What Is a Floor Door?
A floor door or floor access hatch is a flush mounted door situated in the floor available with an infilled lid to match the surrounding floor or a metal lid.
Surespan Ireland are a leading manufacturer of custom floor hatches used in a variety of applications such as:
- Basement door
- Cellar Doors
- Hidden floor door
- hidden basement door in floor
- Fire rated floor hatch
We can make your floor hatch to any size from 36” x 36” up to any size in a single or double door configuration. We have manufactured covers over 175” x 175” before!
The first consideration you should take into account when looking at custom floor doors is whether it needs to be recessed to take a flooring infill or whether a metal top cover is suitable. Metal top can either be an aluminum checker plate top or plain stainless steel plate. If the cover has a pan type lid (recessed) the floor door can be made to suit any depth, with a recommended depth of 1” depending on your flooring. Metal a plain plate lid is used, anti-slip coverings can be included for additional safety.
The next consideration is what loadings are required? Is the floor hatch being used in a domestic property where simply pedestrian loading is suitable or is it situated in an industrial setting with heavy machinery in the vicinity? There are standard vehicle loadings, UDL (Uniform distributed load), point loads. If there are specific requirements such as H20 Loadings our technical team are on hand to assist.
All flush and recessed hatches sit within an aperture in the floor and require a sill to sit on. The size of the sill will vary depending on loadings required, fire ratings, materials and fixign details.
Floor access doors are available with additional performance factors including fire rating for up to 4 hours to UL-EU standards, acoustic rating up to 45dB and integral insulation ideal for heated spaces.
All of the above factors will have a bearing on the operation options for the floor door. Gas spring assisted opening is suitable for small residential uses for frequent access. Larger units with heavy flooring inlaid with be hydraulically operated with a manual hand pump or an electrically driven pump. Powered hatches can be used for covers that fall in between small and residential and heavy duty industrial. Lift out doors can also be used for infrequent access.
