My new vacation/rental property has one feature that makes me very nervous:
access to the basement is through a trap door in the floor. It is a small
house and the trap door sits in a hallway with the two bedrooms on each end
and the bathroom in the middle. The door is hinged on the bathroom side, so
that the bathroom is blocked when it is up. I hope that description is clear.
I can try to do a better job if not.
Heres the problem: the washer and dryer are in the basement. Under any
circumstances, it is easy to imagine someone falling in the hole when the door
is open (I have come somewhat close once already), but here is the scenario
that most frightens me. My wife wakes up in the morning and decides to throw
a load into the laundry before everyone wakes up. I wake up while she is down
there and groggily walk towards the bathroom and straight into the 2 by 4
hole in the floor. (Actually, my greater fear is that this happens to a
renter, who then sues me for every penny I have.)
It is a very small (780 sq ft) cottage and there is no way to reposition the
steps without adding on to the house and changing the layout. That is
actually something we plan on doing in a couple of years, but cant do right
now. The financial model that allows us to own this place assumes that we
rent it out for the summer season each year, and we need to get it on the
market soon. The only option I have come up with is to padlock the door and
make the renters go outside and enter the basement through the garage door.
However, I am hoping someone here has a better idea. I will be there in a few
weeks and would love to find a simple solution to the problem.
As always, thanks!
Jim
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