Under stairs storage but with access to meters and fuse box

[sammy.se]

Hi,

I'm thinking of adding under stairs drawers, but I need access to the fuse box and meters which are right in the middle of the wall.

Any ideas? Shall I just make short drawers that stop short of the meter/ fcu, and then remove the drawer when needed, or is there a cleverer solution?

Maybe I make cubby holes in front of the meters and no drawers?
Thanks!!

 

[sammy.se]

I'll have some photos and drawings in a few days... just wondering what others have done.

 

[ajs]

Whatever you do bear in mind the fuse box is one thing you may foreseeably want to access in the dark. I'd be inclined to leave it as open access as possible, I certainly wouldn't want to be pulling out drawers and fumbling for somewhere to put them with the lights out.

 

[Lorenzl]

I used to have a framework that would pull out on castors. This was an under stairs cupboard that had the door on one of the ends.

 

[Bingy man]

As ajs says access is important at all times as you’ll never know when you will need it. I’ll never forget as a lad smoke pouring out of under stairs cupboard and the flames when I inadvertently opened the door to investigate. These area’s are often the dumping ground for the hoover , shoes, bags etc and the meter is buried under the lot. Pictures would help as there maybe a better option for you.

 

[baldkev]

A while back i had to sort out a sagging staircase ( was due to rotten joists underneath ) and as part of the work create new storage. The blum blumotion runners are able to take heavy loads.... not cheap, but great.
Do you have the option of doing it in 2 parts? A door with maybe a shelf under the consumer unit and drawer to the side?

 

[sammy.se]

Thank you all for the replies.

Agreed 100% about fusebox access, as well as the gas mains not being behind a drawer.

A while back i had to sort out a sagging staircase ( was due to rotten joists underneath ) and as part of the work create new storage. The blum blumotion runners are able to take heavy loads.... not cheap, but great.
Do you have the option of doing it in 2 parts? A door with maybe a shelf under the consumer unit and drawer to the side?

I think a version of this will work:
I could have drawers at the tallest end, a door in the middle section (that's where there units are) and finally a drawer at the smallest end.

I'll have some photos the next couple of days, that should help

 

[Ozi]

A while back the electrical regulations were tightened such that consumer units under stairs that would be an escape route if there was a fire now have to be in a metal box. This applies to houses I let. I also have to post a notice telling my tenants not to obstruct the unit - possibly the most ignored notice on the planet. I'm not sure what the situation is for your own home but it is worth thinking about some fire protection and checking house insurance, previous changes to regulations were often not retrospective but these were.

 

[Kabee18]

Hi,

I'm thinking of adding under stairs drawers, but I need access to the fuse box and meters which are right in the middle of the wall.

Any ideas? Shall I just make short drawers that stop short of the meter/ fcu, and then remove the drawer when needed, or is there a cleverer solution?

Maybe I make cubby holes in front of the meters and no drawers?
Thanks!!

Hi, I have the same issue with the meter cupboard being under the stairs, I just wondered how you got around this and if you made the storage work as I keep looking for inspiration, as it's driving me mad trying to work out how to make storage solutions work! Thanks