At last one of our wacky ideas is finished and has been made compliant with the current building regulations.

 Whilst a laundry chute might seem a simple enough idea, it does in theory provide an excellent route for a fire downstairs to spread into the upper floor.

 So a fire retarding “flap” was required. We achieved this with 3/4 inch thick oak (made out of two pieces of surplus oak skirting) and then edged it with intumescent strip.

 This is a close up of the furry strip which melts and seals the edge for around 30 minutes in the event of extreme heat. It is commonly available from builders merchants in handy little packs of a few strips a couple of feet long.

Here was a useful sample board that electrical suppliers will tend to have of their preferred suppliers various styles. A useful thing to borrow for a weekend when you are deciding on this sort of thing.

As we were going for a stainless or wood theme this choice was pretty simple.