God I hate winter....
- Thread starter Aunty Em
- Start date
unclehobart
New Member
How is it that the English can conquer half the world and yet not figure out central heating?
unclehobart
New Member
Auntie ... Whats with all of the barbed wire along the front and side of your place? 
ris
New Member
unclehobart said:
i think its nothing to do with the central heating, unc, and more to do with the door. hence why the door is the subject of the thread.
aunty, it sounds a bit like the door is acting as a cold bridge which is causing the condensation problems. if the door has been fited that badly and sealant won't do it then there are some expanding mastic-style strips [sticky strips] that expand to fill a gap over a period of hours. because they expand they tend to fill the gaps better and not fall out so readily.
teh one i know is called 'compriband super', it might be worth a gander, and should be ok for external use. if the gaps are that big then it might be worth a little boxing in, if it can be done in around the door area.
the cold bridging and condensation may continue i'm afraid, but the air gaps should be sealable. bear in mind that the reason why the sealant isn't working is that use of the door is causing movement between frame and wall. boxing in might help that situation a bit more.
dunno if that's any help
unclehobart
New Member
Our major external doors over here pretty much have a seondary storm door to keep most of the kind of weather at bay. The internal stripping is in the recess notch of the doorjamb. The bottom of the door has a half inch plate of wood that meshes with a rubberized membrane against the bottom of the door. It has 4 windscreen wiper style blades set into it that snugly set.
Stop Laughing
New Member
We get the yearly double here: wind chills get below 0 consistenly most winters and our heat indices get over 100 consistently most summers. I've experienced extremes from -50F (-45C) wind chills and 130F (55C) heat indices. Combo central heater/ACs are always in high demand here, obviously.
Aunty Em
Well-Known Member
ris said:aunty, it sounds a bit like the door is acting as a cold bridge which is causing the condensation problems. if the door has been fited that badly and sealant won't do it then there are some expanding mastic-style strips [sticky strips] that expand to fill a gap over a period of hours. because they expand they tend to fill the gaps better and not fall out so readily.
teh one i know is called 'compriband super', it might be worth a gander, and should be ok for external use. if the gaps are that big then it might be worth a little boxing in, if it can be done in around the door area.
the cold bridging and condensation may continue i'm afraid, but the air gaps should be sealable. bear in mind that the reason why the sealant isn't working is that use of the door is causing movement between frame and wall. boxing in might help that situation a bit more.
dunno if that's any help
That's my understanding of the situation. There is a small draught strip around the door, a rubber tube which is supposed to compress when the door shuts, but it is too small. It only needs to be compressed by about another 1/8" inch to seal it. Will I be able to use the 'compriband super' with this still on the door? And where can I find it?
An alternative I had thought of is to run some clear silicon sealant around the frame of the door where the seal is supposed to compress to raise the surface a little so it compresses more and seals properly. I can use some thing to draw around the seal to make sure it's in the right place. The problem is the gap is very, very small but hard to seal. I might as well deal with it myself because the council are likely just to keep fiddling with rehanging it, which ultimately doesn't solve the problem.
The condensation I deal with by wiping it down and using a mild solution of bleach/domestos once a week to prevent mold from growing. Also opening the air strips on the windows and when it's bad opening the windows for a short while in the morning to allow for evaporation of the moisture.
Arris
New Member
Vortex said:Fire*Star said:Last winter was a B*TCH!!! Granted it was only like 7 C, but still, it was cold.
Summer now though is a scortcher!!
7C!!!! Thats tropical weather for Northern Scotland. Its 7C here in Milan just now and all the Italians are going about in coats, scarves and gloves. I'm just going around in a suit to work. Its pleasant enough temperature. In Scotland a scorching summer is 25C!!!
ris
New Member
Aunty Em said:
the other thing i can think of might be somehting similar that is used as expansion jointing in brickwork. it comes as a strip that is pushed into the gap, when the cover-paper is removed the strip expands into the gap. whether the strip would expand enough i don't know. as to if you can do it or not i suppose it depends on how confident you are with diy, i can't imagine it takling too long for a builder to fit something like that though.
bear in mind that there is no guarantee that either method will work, the brick expansion stuff probably isn't designed for the job, compriband sounds like its ok though.
compriband website, the product menu under 'foam joints' looks like it may be suitable.
Aunty Em
Well-Known Member
ris said:
Thanks ris, having seen it I'll nip down to the local builders merchants or DIY (it's just down the road) over the weekend and see if they stock it there or something similar - I'm sure they must do. As to fitting it, no problem, building a house might phase me a bit but fitting some self adhesive weather strip is no big deal.
Justintime
Guest
Vortex said:Fire*Star said:
Summer now though is a scortcher!!
@ 7C again 
thats warm!
unclehobart
New Member
Do you have a contractor friend who might have a laser temperature reader? You could pinpoint the exact nature of how much heatsinking the walls and ceiling are doing as well as the door materials themselves. You may have a greater insulation issue at hand beyond improper weatherstipping.
Is this a door that you use very much? Have you considered a tapestry of sorts to cover the door in the interim? It doesn't sound as if the landlords give a rip.
Is this a door that you use very much? Have you considered a tapestry of sorts to cover the door in the interim? It doesn't sound as if the landlords give a rip.
Justintime
Guest
Landlords usually don't, had only one good landlord in my entire nomad life, lived in 5 places so far, this one now i'm moving to is my own, hopefully forever