I am a housing association tenant in a house about 15 years old. It has UPVC front door and French doors in the back garden. These are so poorly fitted the heat just pours out of my house. The gaps are around the door fittings inside the frames the whole way round, locks, bottom tops and sides - you can see daylight. I’ve put up one photo of how bad my French doors are with a slight push at the top.
It’s actually too cold to be downstairs once the temp falls so we don’t use it in winter, just the kitchen and we all sit upstairs. The front door leads into the hall and there is no lobby or stair door stopping the freeze so it makes upstairs cold too. The thermostat is next to the front door and is constantly on 10 or less in winter, so it’s almost just pointless as it’s going from the freezing front door area.
For context I claim no benefits, I waited on the list for 10 years like everyone else does in a private rental with a horrible LL with 2 kids. However I am not well off and cannot afford new doors. last year I bought £40+ worth of sticky foam insulation tape and went to work plugging all the gaps I could find even using cloths and towels. However some gaps were so wide it took 3 layers of foam and not only did it become hard to lock the doors, it all has peeled off over the summer months. Having something solid (bean bag insulator type thing) behind the doors makes opening and closing them very frustrating as they get caught and stuck constantly. I’ve got curtains. They don’t help.
Is this something the HA is responsible for or me? I hate to ask them, I already feel bad even living in social housing. If this is my issue to fix, what can I do?
Photo is French doors closed and locked but this top area is saggy and let’s a lot of cold in