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Width of walkway down one side of your narrowboat


Warthog

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Hi ? So another question.. ? 

I’ll be having a trad stern narrowboat build soon .. just the shell  .. and at the bottom of the steps coming in from the stern I’ll be having a walkway right down the starboard side .. could anyone tell me what’s the usual width of this passage.. what size should I be making it ? Is there a minimum size required for fire safety? 
thanks guys ?

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I don't think that there is a minimum width for fire safety or any other regulated reason.

If there is a double width bed on the port size, standard 78" X 48" mattress, what is left is the gangway on the starboard. It will be an odd section due to the narrowing of the base plate usually, the width of the gunwale, and the degree of tumblehome on the cabin. 

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34 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I don't think that there is a minimum width for fire safety or any other regulated reason.

If there is a double width bed on the port size, standard 78" X 48" mattress, what is left is the gangway on the starboard. It will be an odd section due to the narrowing of the base plate usually, the width of the gunwale, and the degree of tumblehome on the cabin. 

Exactly that on ours too.

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Yeah so if I pop a 4ft wide bed in hard against the port side that should give me roughly 2ft for a passage way down the boat?  .. the plan is to raise the bed up high and have a big storage cupboard underneath.. I’ll have a ply 18mm ply wall right up the side of the bed from floor to ceiling with a crawl in hole to get in and out .. it will create a comfy wee bed cabin with two small portholes inside on the port side . I’ll be fitting a stained glass window in the 18mm ply .. that should bring some nice colours into the hall ?

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5 minutes ago, Chooglin said:

I’ll have a ply 18mm ply wall right up the side of the bed from floor to ceiling with a crawl in hole to get in and out ..

I'm not liking the sound of that, in the event of fire or sinking I imagine a crawl-hole to be something that would slow down egress,

 

 

The RCD Annex 1.A.3.8 states that all habitable craft must have a viable means of escape in the event of fire, It may be worth discussing with your RCD surveyor if a 'mouse-hole' meets the criteria.

 

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I'm not liking the sound of that, in the event of fire or sinking I imagine a crawl-hole to be something that would slow down egress,

 

 

The RCD Annex 1.A.3.8 states that all habitable craft must have a viable means of escape in the event of fire, It may be worth discussing with your RCD surveyor if a 'mouse-hole' meets the criteria.

 

I’m only wee tho haha.. 

I looked it up in the RCD manual 

the hole can be considerably smaller than I thought ! It surly can’t be that small ?lol 

That’s  like 15” by 21 “ as long as the cabin has leads into the hall with 2 other exits ?surly not .. anyway I’ll be making the opening into the bed cabin 2ft by 4ft 

D6A75F55-4AB4-4EB6-BDC8-90618DB3575C.png

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2 hours ago, Chooglin said:

Yeah so if I pop a 4ft wide bed in hard against the port side that should give me roughly 2ft for a passage way down the boat?  .. the plan is to raise the bed up high and have a big storage cupboard underneath.. I’ll have a ply 18mm ply wall right up the side of the bed from floor to ceiling with a crawl in hole to get in and out .. it will create a comfy wee bed cabin with two small portholes inside on the port side . I’ll be fitting a stained glass window in the 18mm ply .. that should bring some nice colours into the hall ?

I suppose it would give another person less chance to escape from you in there.

Makes changing the bedding interesting and I hope you will fitting an extractor fan to this cubby hole.

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21 minutes ago, MarkH2159 said:

I suppose it would give another person less chance to escape from you in there.

Makes changing the bedding interesting and I hope you will fitting an extractor fan to this cubby hole.

Haha haha totally!! ?

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When deciding on room dimensions, don't forget the wall and ceiling insulation, you will loose approx 150mm(6inches) of width at the narrowest point, dependant on type and quantity of insulation.

 

Bod.

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Ikea mattresses (some) come in a roll and expand for 48hrs so can be got in awkward spaces.  My passages are the absolute minimum for the BSS and as a result I have to be careful who I invite aboard, several of my aquaintances could not get through. (although if they did I would have to reballast the boat). My fixed bed is 1400 x 2000 mm.

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The higher you build the bed the narrower the passage will be.

IMHO Best bed height is well below gunwale height allowing about a foot or so between matress top and underside of gunwale. Once you go above the gunwale that's another 6-8 inches of width lost.

  • Greenie 3
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Can't quite visualise what the OP proposes with walls etc. but on our last narrowboat I 'walled off' the engine hole from the accommodation completely, no access between the two. The double bed then went crossways right up against that wall but I built a biggish hatch in the wall that could be just pulled out if something went badly wrong, That gave access to the engine hole and then it was easy to open the rear doors from inside although the slide had a chain and padlock that looked unbreakable from outside. On the present boat the escape hatch is a glazed roof light that sits over an upstand and is held on by 4 toggle catches. Stand on the bed, release the catches and push the roof light off then climb out.  It is mostly fire that we think of so far as escape goes but it could be handy in a sinking boat - unlikely but you never know.

Edited by Bee
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11 hours ago, Chooglin said:

Yeah so if I pop a 4ft wide bed in hard against the port side that should give me roughly 2ft for a passage way down the boat?  .. the plan is to raise the bed up high and have a big storage cupboard underneath.. I’ll have a ply 18mm ply wall right up the side of the bed from floor to ceiling with a crawl in hole to get in and out .. it will create a comfy wee bed cabin with two small portholes inside on the port side . I’ll be fitting a stained glass window in the 18mm ply .. that should bring some nice colours into the hall ?

A side corridor alongside a wall will feel a great deal more cramped than a side corridor past an open bed.

  • Greenie 1
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2 hours ago, Bod said:

When deciding on room dimensions, don't forget the wall and ceiling insulation, you will loose approx 150mm(6inches) of width at the narrowest point, dependant on type and quantity of insulation.

 

Bod.

Good point ? cheers 

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2 hours ago, WotEver said:

You do realise that the screen grab you posted is from the BSS and has nothing whatsoever to do with the RCD?

I can’t find anything in the RCD about it .. it just says you need to have a means to escape? That’s obvious.. but I can’t find anything that states minimum dimensions in the RCD .. surly the BSS wouldn’t contradict something as important as that ? Can anyone point out the minimum size ? Cheers 

1 hour ago, Loddon said:

The higher you build the bed the narrower the passage will be.

IMHO Best bed height is well below gunwale height allowing about a foot or so between matress top and underside of gunwale. Once you go above the gunwale that's another 6-8 inches of width lost.

?❤️Another good point.. cheers 

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2 hours ago, Loddon said:

The higher you build the bed the narrower the passage will be.

IMHO Best bed height is well below gunwale height allowing about a foot or so between matress top and underside of gunwale. Once you go above the gunwale that's another 6-8 inches of width lost.

?yes that sounds sensible ❤️Thanks 

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