Slight hi-jack, the plans linked to show something that i don’t think is very traditionally English but rather a very US thing that i’ve always wondered about. There are two doors into the bathroom.
I see this a lot on American TV and have always wondered about the logistics. Often it looks like the bathroom is between two bedrooms and you can access it from either one. Two quick questions…
UK dopers, have you ever seen this in UK houses?
US dopers, how the hell does this ever work? Do you have to lock two doors when you go into the bathroom? And then remember to unlock both doors otherwise one person will be locked out from their side. Or have i got this whole thing horribly wrong?
Yes, I’ve seen that once in a British house, which was a very confusing layout due to two properties having been converted into one. One door was in a normal place off a corridor, the other was from the master bedroom. So yes, you needed to ensure both doors were locked.
In conjunction with the traditional ‘end stairs at two-foot thick stone wall. Turn 90 degrees to locate doorway’ setup this optimises the potential for humorous “SMACK! GAH! thumpthumpthump THUD! … ooooorgh” moments. Add terriers, cats or other small underfoot beasts if necessary.
Never seen this in the UK, but we had a bathroom like this in our old house in Norway. Doors to master bedroom and corridor. Works well if you make the assumptions that
[ul][li]People are unlikely to stroll into your bedroom and go exploring other interesting doors they see.[/li][li]Anyone you are sharing your bedroom with is likely to know if you have got up and gone to the bathroom[/li][/ul]
So you don’t need to lock the door leading back to your bedroom unless you have a houseful of wandering noseyparkers, or your family are in the habit of using your bedroom as a long-cut to the bathroom.
Alternatively, you could just invest in glazed doors and emphasise that knocking is in order if the light is on. This will also stand you in good stead if your locks break.
Just a WAG, but most of the softwood in the UK comes from Finland, and the trees they have don’t provide high-quality lumber. i saw 2"x4’ studs 9the standard for US wall contruction0 that looked more like 1"x 3", and they were full of knots. the USA and canada is blessed with cheap, high quality softwood lumber-which makes woodframed houses cheap and readily buildable. Which is not the case for bricks-although the midwest (Chicago area0 has lots of brick built homes.
Interesting. Is this because the trees aren’t up to scratch, or because UK builders only buy cheap crap? My guess would be the latter, because most of scandinavia and finland is full of beautiful timber-built houses.
My friend (the builder) built a traditional pressure treated wood deck off the back of his house in Whetstone (London) and had to get the wood from Holland.
Okay, I just have to ask… what the heck is a ‘breeze block’? It sounds to me like the kind of ornamental concrete block used to make fences in the fifties and sixties, but from the way you are using the term, that can’t be the meaning.
And I’m having a heck of a time trying to find pictures of the kind of fences I mean. My google-fu must be broken today. The blocks I’m thinking of were typically moulded with a square rim and diamond or radial webs inside, and square or triangular openings between. They were laid up on their sides and you coyuld see though the openings.
Here’s an article from a UK newspaper about a housing development in Kent that’s designed to look like it’s comprised of New England-style wood-framed clapboard houses. The base construction of the houses, however, is standard UK concrete and brick, with some clapboards nailed on the fronts to make it look “New England-y.”
Again, that’s so funny. In New England, they’re more likely to do the opposite — to put up a wood frame house, and clad it in brick or stone, to make it look Old England-y.
