What is the name of those door, often metal, at the back of a house? They lead up from the basement, are horizontal or slightly inclined from horizontal, I think often in a concrete frame. The swing to the side and you generally come up stairs to the backyard.
I am looking for the common name for this feature, if there is a common name for them. If not a more professional terms would be good.
This is for a fiction work.
Thank you.
On 27 Jul 2007, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote
Not trying to be smart, but I think they're most commonly called "cellar doors".
Some other types have other names -- "cellar flaps" or "hatches" for those ones that lie flat in the sidewalk -- but I can't imagine anyone mistaking what you meant if you wrote "cellar doors".
("You'll be sorry when you see me/Sliding down our cellar door...")
Thanks. I have cellar doors in there now. If it wasn't so central to the story I wouldn't care.
You can also have a staircase that goes down to vertical doors that lead to the basement (the stairs, thus, being outside), but these doors are not like that.
I just noticed your 'Cheers'. I should have asked what they would be called in the USA, though I suspect your answer will still hold.
Thanks in any case.
On 27 Jul 2007, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote
I'm bilingual. :)
(Born in Canada, and didn't move to England until I was 30 -- which was, gulp, 25 years ago this year....)
On 27 Jul 2007, Don wrote
I've already had a travel discount for the "over 50s", and am takin' any of it I can get -- no shame at all!
Around here (MA) we call them "bulkhead" doors, but I don't know why. EDS
This is from the Bilco web site Bilco sells a range of hatches and other "access products".
Basement Door - Classic Series Steel Sided Direct basement access allows homeowners to get the full use of their home. Large furniture, game tables and bulky appliances move easily in and out of a Bilco basement door. Garden tools, deck and patio furniture and pool supplies go directly to and from the yard. Service crews can go directly to the utilities, reducing traffic and potential damage to floors, walls and property.
T
Gate To Heaven.
sidewalk or basement or bulkhead doors, see:
[snip]
With titanic t*ts and sandblasted zits!!!
I was reading a thriller and came across:
storm cellar doors sloped to the foundation.
Probably referring to the US plains.
Probably we all have images in our minds when we think about a product or another. The iamge that came to my mind was a city townhouse basement entry.
I meant the appellation, not the thing itself. My house had such a thing when we bought it, but no one around here calls them 'storm cellars'. Cellars, yes. Basements, more usual, but we don't get storms of any scale requiring a shelter.
You know her?
I think it's in reference to a Frank Zappa tune.
Research Bilco Doors
Bilco: Worth waiting 7 years for! =}
Best with the story... See you in 7 years. Maybe.
(Recent posts spell poetic revenge for Ahmed Ouahi. ;)
replying to Michael Bulatovich, Heidi Siebels wrote: Bilco
replying to priorityman, Handyman wrote: Those are called Bilco doors.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required