Front door issues, council property is it right to call them?

dekaspace

Been here exactly 12 months, did notice at the time it was breezy even though I had double glazing but as the temps last winter were far warmer overall just let it be.


With the cold in last 2 weeks noticed its been bitterly cold even with heating full blast (sweaty and shivering)


Noticed this morning theres a gap under the front door big enough to slide my toes or my fingers under and I assume this is where the gap is.


I did phone council who says they can put draught excluders on but first appointment is a month and was looking at some cheap temp fixes.


But then I noticed when I came back from the shops that if I look in the doorframe its not flat/even as in it looks like the corner with the hinges it hugs the frame/step but gets worse up to other end and you can wobble the door with ease despite it being double locked


Is this a petty issue or is it something that requires repair? the door locks fine its just gaps as if the door is misaligned or the frame is.


Don't want to waste the councils time

00ec25

so you have a gap that lets a draught in. Hardly a great drama. Buy a draught excluder strip and fix it yourself, since you are the one wasting the heating and paying for that.

elsien

You can buy strips to tack/stick round the door frame to block draughts round the edges. Stick some draught proofing on the bottom of the door and have a material draught excluder pushed up against it when you're in. You can also get a heavy curtain from a charity shop and hang it over the door. Or do what I do and wrap yourself up in a blanket when you're sitting down. I am wondering how you can be sweaty and cold both at the same time though.

PasturesNew

As it's a council house, the best thing to do would be to buy a rubber strip draught excluder and no-nails it in yourself (or fit properly if you've tools/skills).

They're unlikely to do much for such a "trivial issue" when they have hundreds of other properties with HUGE problems.

That's the truth and reality of it.

Just sort it out yourself with an assortment of draught excluding products/methods.

G_M

It also looks like the door has been badly hung and/or been damaged at some point. Might someone have licked it for example, either before or after you moved in?

I would add that to your report, though the timeframe is unlikely to change. It's not an emergency.

Meanwhile, buy a




https://www.amazon.co.uk/Details-Novelty-Draught-Excluder-Cushion/dp/B01M3VECKG?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&!!!!!duckduckgo-ffsb-uk-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B01M3VECKG

dekaspace

I don't think people understood what I meant, I have a draught due to a gap (which I said I was going to do myself)


But then I meant the door frame isn't even, theres a large gap in that which I am more worried about the door not being aligned right for things like safety reasons. For individual responses though.

00ec25 wrote: »

so you have a gap that lets a draught in. Hardly a great drama. Buy a draught excluder strip and fix it yourself, since you are the one wasting the heating and paying for that.

Already planned that, looked at the actual strips and the foam type but decided to double check first which is when I noticed the uneven gaps in the door frame itself as in theres a gap of around half a inch between the front right door frame and by time it gets to the front left door frame which means the door is very wobbly, like even when its closed it has a gap of a few millimeters to half a inch between frame and door.


But the other thing was I was wondering how much heating I was losing from this.

elsien wrote: »

You can buy strips to tack/stick round the door frame to block draughts round the edges. Stick some fraught proofing on the bottom of the door and have a material draught excluder pushed up against it when you're in. You can also get a heavy curtain from a charity shop and hang it over the door. Or do what I do and wrap yourself up in a blanket when you're sitting down. I am wondering how you can be sweaty and cold both at the same time though.

Sweaty and cold as in even when the heating is at full blast it takes so long to get to a comfortable temperature due to the draught that the physical temperature can be high but the breeze gives it a chill, with no breeze the heating could be on less time and lower actual temp but I would feel warmer.

dekaspace

G_M wrote: »

It also looks like the door has been badly hung and/or been damaged at some point. Might someone have licked it for example, either before or after you moved in?

I would add that to your report, though the timeframe is unlikely to change. It's not an emergency.

Yes I didn't think of it as a emergency as much as something that needs a call out even if it took a few weeks but didn't want to do something not needed.

What I believe has happened was the council does up properties when they are empty, there was a lot of shoddy stuff done when I moved here like the lino was the wrong size and had a small tear in, they didn't do the trunking for the kitchen at all, the shower was broken, the pedestal for the sink was cracked though looked new, cracked or broken plug sockets etc.

Each time I saw a inspector they were unhappy as the workmen had signed the work off as done before I moved in.


The actual framing of the door looks brand new the door itself looks old so I wonder if they just measured it wrong or its slightly misaligned.

G_M

Buy a cheap curtain rail and some material for 50p from a charity shop.

Hang it next to the door. That will stop all draughts esp if used with





https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draught-Excluder-Cushion-Dreams-Gate/dp/B0773MBR85?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&!!!!!duckduckgo-ffsb-uk-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0773MBR85

dekaspace

G_M wrote: »

Buy a cheap curtain rail and some material for 50p from a charity shop.

Hang it next to the door. That will stop all draughts esp if used with

Sorry forgot to mention in reply to the last response I luckily do have one of those snake style excluders which I put there temporarily but thats only useful if I am indoors, if I am outside for a few hours still losing any heat unless I go out the side door.

G_M

[Deleted User]

In my previous council property I had a very cold hallway. Door was part of the problem so I bought some thick velvet material off ebay and put up a heavy curtain just like the one GM pictured. It did help.

Have you looked at the hinges. Usually when there's a problem with the door as you describe, its the screws or the hinges that need replacing. I have put very long screws into a hinge to get over cracks in a door frame/hinge screw problems in the past. Replacing the hinges can help as well if they are 'flexing'.

Heat escaping when you are out shouldn't be a problem.., I never have heating on when I am out. Only put it on for an hour at a time when I am in.