What the building settles for you
There are two routes: strengthen the leaf in place by lining it with steel and reworking the frame, or take the lot out and fit a complete armoured door set. In the old centre of Villefranche the second assumes a sound frame and a square opening, two conditions that joinery several centuries old rarely meets. The out-of-plumb is measured before any product is discussed.
Then there is the very practical matter of getting the leaf upstairs. A narrow turret stair with winder treads will not take an armoured door set in one piece. The flight, the newel and the landing are measured before anything is ordered; sometimes the steel-lined route is chosen not on merit but because nothing else physically reaches the floor above.
In the Béligny and Troussier blocks the openings are standard and a door set goes in without particular difficulty. The point to watch becomes the landing: clear width, which way the door swings, and a heavy leaf that must not obstruct the shared route. The hall passage width and the swing of the common doors are noted at the same time. At Les Bulles the door is often glazed, and it is its anchorage in the wall that is strengthened first.
What shows from the street, and what reinforcement does not solve
On the protected frontages of the rue Nationale and the streets beside it, the appearance from the road is controlled: an old carriage door is not swapped for a standard steel set. The solutions that hold keep the original leaf and work behind it, visible hinges and all. This is checked with the town hall before anything is ordered.
In a co-ownership, anything altering the look of a common part goes through the general meeting, and many sets of rules here impose one colour or one pattern of furniture for the whole stairwell. A tenant may have a door reinforced, but the owner's consent is asked for in writing, and the outgoing inventory is worth thinking about early.
Lastly, a reinforced door protects only the door. In the centre many homes also open onto an inner courtyard through a low window or an original service door. Reinforcing the entrance while leaving that as it is simply moves the problem a metre sideways. A low window on the courtyard is dealt with differently, with ironmongery suited to old timber.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our door reinforcement page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Villefranche-sur-Saône.