--Dorothy and Michael Stephens, e-mail
Answer -- The simplest solution to your dilemma would be to get a smarter dog, but that might create larger problems of an entirely different nature. Since that is not a likely option, I will give you at least one other possibility for your troublesome stairway area.
While an open doorway directly above your basement stairway may present a hazard to your intellectually challenged pet, it may also pose the same risk for any human inhabitants of the home. If your stairs go straight down to the basement floor, without a landing or change in direction, an open doorway could be just as hazardous to small children or others. Many older homes have basement stairways that were installed for very limited use and may be a trip hazard because they did not have adequate space for proper landings. The door at the top is not only functional to close off the basement area from the living space above, but acts like a barrier to accidentally tumbling all the way down to the basement floor slab. Care must be taken when doing any repairs to ensure the current safety level is at least maintained or improved.
It is somewhat unusual to install a pocket door above a stairway. It is more normal to see an outward swinging door in this location. The door must swing away from the stairs to prevent accidental falls, due to an unlatched door or when reaching for the knob over the open stairway. I would expect the builder of your home may have installed the pocket door to save space or due to lack of clearance between an open, swinging door and the area adjacent. If this is not the situation, a simple solution to your dilemma might be possible. You could replace the existing pocket door with one that swings. In that case, modifications may only have to be made to the door jamb on the side that the pocket door now enters the wall and the top.
To install a typical swinging door, the old split jamb of the pocket door could be easily removed from one side and the top by prying off the casing, as done in your previous repairs. A new, full width jamb can be installed, after having the hinges mounted on this side and the door edge. Once mounted in the rough opening, the casing can be replaced, a door stop installed, and a knob and striker plate drilled and secured. The only concern with this method is the height and width of the new door. The opening may be smaller than the standard size due to the previous installed pocket door. The new door will have to be ordered to suit this opening or cut down from the norm. If the old door is not too damaged from years of opening and closing without proper mounting to the track, it may be possible to trim it to suit the new configuration. That way, additional finishing or painting the door to match the existing trim may not be required.
Should modification of the door to a swinging one not be practical, there is one further possibility to ensure safety. Modifications to the basement stairs may be another way to prevent the need for the door, altogether. This could be accomplished by removal of the old straight stairs and replacement with two sets of new, shorter stairs divided by a landing. This will have to be done with the top set of short stairs running at right angles to the lower set, so there must be enough room in the existing basement to accommodate it. A good guard railing will also be required at the side of the landing to prevent your dog from sliding off.
While both of the proposed options are possibilities, the first one will definitely be less invasive or costly, as long as there is room to allow for the swinging door. If neither looks like something you would consider, my original, tongue-in-cheek proposal might not be out of the question.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the President of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors - Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be e-mailed or sent to: Ask The Inspector, P. O. Box 69021, #110-2025 Corydon Ave., Winnipeg, MB. R3P 2G9. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca
