Village, plain, hillside: three ways of reaching the door
In the old village around the church the car stops well short; the last stretch is on foot. The houses are terraced, the doors solid timber, and the way in often runs through a courtyard or up an outside stair shared by several homes. Say on the phone what lies between street and landing: parking restricts a call-out here more than anywhere else in the commune.
Between the railway and the shore, the blocks put up from the 1960s to the 1990s look alike from one landing to the next. Give the name exactly as shown on the entry phone, the building, the floor, and which side of the landing your door is on. Near the marina and Cap 3000, say which entrance leads from the car park into the hall.
On the heights — Les Pugets, Les Vespins, Le Point du Jour — the road climbs in hairpins and the house numbers barely show from the roadway. Many addresses are reached along a private track shared between several properties, with a gate before the front door. Say how far up the hairpin a vehicle can wait, and whether that gate still works without a key.
Proof of occupancy first, then the method at the door
No home is opened on somebody’s say-so. You have to establish that you live there: an identity document with the address, a rent receipt, an energy bill or a home insurance certificate. Locked inside with everything else? Say so when you call. In the village as in the blocks on the plain, a neighbour, the caretaker or the managing agent can vouch for you, a requirement that protects your home as much as it binds us.
The first question on the phone comes down to two cases. A door merely pulled shut is held by the latch alone: on terraces looking out over the mouth of the Var, one gust is enough to close a leaf left ajar. A multipoint lock thrown top and bottom on a recent door on the plain puts up a resistance of an entirely different order.
The method is decided at the door itself: what lock is fitted, how much play the leaf has, the state of an old village frame, the room left on a cramped landing. Everything is assessed on site; the itemised quote precedes the work, the itemised invoice follows the opening. Until then, keep cards and screwdrivers away from the rebate of old joinery.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our door opening page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Saint-Laurent-du-Var.