Bifold doors and draughts anyone??

[northender]

We have just replaced sliding patio doors that lead from our lounge into the conservatory. We now have a hinged uPVC door on the left third of the space as you look from inside. This is hinged on the left, opens into the conservatory and fastens into the left hand side of a 2 panel folding door.

Where the 2 doors meet, at the top there is a small area (poss 2x3cm) of daylight and obviously draught. Someone has been out today and told dh nothing can be done to seal it, so he has put a small piece of brush draught excluder there which is similar to a chocolate teapot as far as I can see.The bottom of the left hand door also has brushes fitted to it which let a very low level of draught through.

Considering the cost of these doors I am really and . Fortunately, I think, we haven't paid anything but the deposit yet.
I'm interested to hear anyone else's experiences and advice as to what to do next. (The company are FENSA registered if that helps)

Have you measured them to see if they match what you agreed to in the quote? Sounds shoddy to me. A chat with a more senior person at the company?

If theres an actual gap at the top of the new doors, then they simply dont fit. Did the company do the measuring and the fitting?

"nothing can be done" my ar*e.

These are meant to be external-quality doors, and the conservatory is meant to be treated as an unheated space.

How many people do you know who can see daylight round their back door?

Thanks for your replies. It helped me to be confident on the phone to them this morning. I was pleasant but firm and am waiting to hear back from them.
I can almost believe that for the configuration of doors we have, this is inevitable, but this arrangement was suggested to us and at no point were we warned that it wouldn't be draughtproof. It most certainly wouldn't be suitable for an external door. I'm so glad we've only paid a deposit.

if necessary, you can say you didn't order ill-fitting doors, and they didn't offer to supply them.

Thats exactly the way I'm thinking now John

I'm thinking along the lines of The Sale of Goods Act - not fit for the purpose for which they were intended.

We have doors exactly like that only in wood and if anything they're a bit too snug - you have to yank them shut but there is no draft at all and are in fact warmer than the wall/window that was there before. Daylight is simply not acceptable - as well as the warmth it's surely a massive security problem?

We have just had fitted (to the outside admittedly - but I agree with PigletJohn above that they should be external spec. ) bifold doors 1 + 3. No gaps , no daylight. Have had bifold doors in a previous house and the only time we got draughts was when they "fell" from where fitted " ie a fault . I think you need to say they are not right

We had bifold doors fitted between our lounge and conservatory. Similar set up to yours I think. No drafts at all or daylight. I agree with the other posters that your doors are not fit for purpose.

OOI, building regulations require that doors shall be fitted between a conservatory and the habitable rooms of a house, and that they shall be of external quality for insulation and draughtproofing.

Is your conservatory properly insulated or is it a summer use only room?

Did you request 'internal' or 'external' doors.

If your conservatory is a non heated summer use room then using internal doors is . Make sure you have lots of photos and make a record of who said what etc. The doors should not have any gap at all and I would every, very suspicious of a company that tried to fob you off like that.

PigletJohn
I am so pleased you have said that (re doors to conservatory needing to be of external specification ) for two reasons

1. I thought I knew that but glad to have it confirmed by someone who knows

because -

1. Relatives of mine had a conservatory done , let me describe it as "economically" for the purposes of tact . As soon as you stand by doors into conservatory during the winter it is cold. The doors are (as far as I can see - and I am not an expert ) are internal glazed french doors.

Without wanting to hijack (although I realise I am , sorry OP) , if relatives wanted to conform to building regs would they have to have them completely replaced? They (doors , not relatives ) have probably been there 19 years + . I believe that sometimes if something has been there a long time it can be judged by Building regs at the time rather than current .

BTW I do realise that my question above is entirely different to "what would be the right thing to do ?" to which I think I know the answer . Ie replace doors.

Apologies to PigletJohn and OP for asking tangential question .

LB

Old houses do not have to be rebuilt to modern standards each time they change. The regulations 19 years ago might have been different, but were probably similar for conservatory doors, I dont know.

Conservatories are allowed to be built to far lower standards than houses, especially for heat loss. They are treated rather like an outbuilding or shed.

Thanks for all the replies, it's really helped me keep perspective on this. I will be taking photos and writing down a record of phonecalls etc over the weekend