Advent Blog – Day 4

One of the most urgent things on the list is getting odd jobs done, those things that we are prepared to live with but which I realise will become annoying or even embarrassing with guests.

About Doors and Privacy

My parents had been to visit at the end of November and it brought it home to me that there were some of these odd jobs that we really needed to sort, and they all seemed to involve sliding doors.

Our 3 storey house has an office/ spare bedroom on the ground floor that has a shower room attached.

Both the door to the office and to the shower room are sliding pocket doors (if we’d had normal swing doors it wouldn’t have been possible to get a double sofa bed into the room).

The shower room door got stuck closed and the office door wouldn’t close fully.

So someone using the shower room couldn’t just think they’d leave open the shower door and close the office door, yet if they left open the office door and relied on the shower room door, they got stuck. (Well, the door could be opened but only by pushing it at the base whilst standing on your head reciting poetry – well I exaggerate a bit but it definitely wasn’t grandparent friendly).

I suggested that the Grandparents use the other shower room but that had issues with the sliding door to the shower.

Help is needed

So all in all it was awkward enough for a short visit but this really couldn’t stay like this for Christmas. So I contacted my regular handyman and luckily he had half a day free.

The tricky part about fixing all these sliding doors is the fact that the tracks get hidden, making fixes and adjustments tricky.

The handyman managed to fix all 3 doors but the shower room door was the most complicated. The problem was simple, it was actually just a few loose screws that were catching, but he had to remove the door architrave to get access – so that’s some paintwork that will need touching up later.

Sliding doors are brilliant but…

We now have all the doors fixed and the embarrassment factor reduced. I also have some tips to share with you

1. Sliding and pocket doors can really gain your valuable space but
2. After several years you might need access to the track (despite what your builder thinks) so try and plan in access panels.
3. Even though it can be difficult finding a handyman (or handy-woman) for a week of work, finding half a day might be considerably easier.