Internal doors in Newcastle upon Tyne

Doors for Tyneside flats and Victorian terraces in Heaton and Jesmond

Large parts of Heaton, Jesmond, Sandyford, Benwell and Elswick were built as Victorian and Edwardian terraces. Many of those streets are made up of Tyneside flats, with an upper and a lower flat behind two front doors set side by side.

Keeping the period look

Four-panel and two-panel doors suit these houses best. A painted door with properly moulded panels sits comfortably next to original skirting and cornice, and an oak four-panel door works well if you prefer a natural finish. Flush doors left over from a 1970s update can usually be swapped for something more in keeping without changing the frame. Our door styles guide shows the main options side by side.

When the opening isn’t square

After more than a hundred years, very few doorways in these houses are truly square. Floors slope, heads drop and frames lean. Rather than forcing a new door into a twisted opening, we scribe and plane it to follow the frame, so the gaps look even and the latch catches cleanly. If a lining is split or badly out of line, we can replace it as part of the job. Our page on frames, linings and architrave explains when that’s needed.

Odd sizes are normal

Older openings are often some way off today’s standard sizes. We measure each opening rather than assuming 1981 x 762 mm, then order and trim every door to suit.

Fire doors for HMOs, flats and loft conversions

Newcastle has a lot of shared houses, particularly in Jesmond, Heaton and Sandyford, where many students and young professionals rent. Licensed HMOs normally need fire doors on bedrooms and kitchens, usually FD30 with intumescent strips, smoke seals and self-closers. The exact requirements come from the council’s licence conditions and the property’s fire risk assessment.

Flats in the city centre and in converted houses raise a similar point. A flat entrance door that opens onto a shared stair or corridor is usually expected to be a fire door, so check with your building manager or freeholder before changing one.

Loft conversions are common in the city’s terraces too. When a loft room adds a third storey to a two-storey house, Building Regulations normally call for a protected stairway, with fire doors on the habitable rooms that open onto it. Building control will confirm what your plans need.

The fire doors we fit come certified by the manufacturer and are hung with the hinges, closers and seals its instructions specify. There’s more detail on our fire doors page and in our guide to fire door regulations for homes.

Upgrading new-build doors at Great Park and Kingston Park

Newer homes at Newcastle Great Park and Kingston Park usually come with lightweight hollow-core doors. They can feel flimsy and let sound through. Swapping them for solid-core or oak doors is one of the quickest ways to make a new house feel more solid.

New-build openings are normally square and close to standard sizes, so the work tends to be quick. In most cases the existing linings and architrave can stay, and we hang the new doors with fresh hinges, latches and handles. If you want a single hardware finish throughout, our handles and hardware page covers the choices.