Leaves that match no size still sold
The terraced houses of the old town and the former workshops rarely offer a standard door. Leaves oversized in width, low headroom under the lintel, thresholds patched over successive repairs, solid timber frames bedded into stone: measurements are taken on site, one by one, and made to measure is the rule rather than the exception. A photograph never replaces a tape.
In return, this old masonry gives an anchorage that modern partitions simply cannot. A door set bedded into a stone wall in the centre holds better than reinforcement screwed onto a rotten frame. The jamb still has to be probed before anything is ordered: timber softened by damp at the bottom of the street will take no load at all.
Then there is the carrying, which people forget. In the grid of narrow streets around place Paul Isnard the van stops some way off and the set goes up by hand, sometimes by a turning stair with short flights. Weight and bulk are part of the choice, just as much as the performance printed on the maker's sheet.
Seafront condominiums, hillside properties
On the Golfe-Juan seafront the flat doors open onto shared landings, and the condominium rules often govern how they are allowed to look. Check that point before ordering: a finish that breaks the line of a whole floor gets refused after the event. The building manager usually answers quickly on this particular question.
If the door is visible from the public street, the matter becomes a planning one. Around the château and its chapel, as in the old streets of the town, changing the external appearance can require a prior declaration, and protected surroundings add an opinion to obtain. The town's planning department will say what applies at your exact address, street by street.
On the larger properties at Super-Cannes and Les Encourdoules, reinforcing the entrance without looking at the rest simply moves the problem to the living-room sliding doors or the garage. Consistency counts more: a very strong entrance beside a glazed panel with no laminated glass does not raise the real level of the whole.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our door reinforcement page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Vallauris.