The 20-minute autumn check that saves winter callouts
Every January we take calls about doors that will not lock and windows that whistle, and most of them were quietly announcing the problem back in September. Twenty minutes with the checklist below, while the weather is still kind, catches nearly all of it, and the fixes are smaller, cheaper and easier to book before the cold arrives.
Walk the seals.
Open each window and door and look at the rubber gasket that runs around it. You are looking for sections that have hardened, cracked, shrunk back at the corners or come loose from the groove. Press any loose lengths back in by hand.
Then close each one and check it pulls up snug against the seal. A sheet of paper closed in the door or window edge should grip when you pull it; if it slides out freely, that section is not sealing and will be a draught by November.
Work every handle and lock now, not in December.
Locks fail at the coldest, least convenient moment because that is when the mechanism is stiffest and the door has swollen or shifted. In September, every handle should lift smoothly and every key should turn without force.
A handle that needs lifting with effort, a key that needs jiggling or a door you have to pull or shoulder to lock is telling you the mechanism and the frame are no longer lined up. That is an adjustment now, or a jammed door in January.
Clear the drainage.
uPVC window and door frames have small drainage slots along the bottom edge that let rainwater out of the frame. Over summer they collect dust, moss and cobwebs. Blocked slots mean water sits inside the frame through winter, which is where mystery leaks and swollen sills come from.
Find the slots on the outside bottom edge and clear them with a thin plastic tool or a pipe cleaner. While you are down there, clear leaves out of door thresholds and patio door tracks.
Look for the early signs of bigger problems.
Fog between the panes of glass that you cannot wipe off means a sealed unit has failed. It will get worse through winter and the window will lose heat faster. Hairline cracks in glass grow in cold weather. A door that scrapes its frame in September will likely stop locking after a wet October.
None of these mend themselves, and all of them are easier to sort in autumn than midwinter.
What to do with what you find.
Loose gaskets, dirty tracks and blocked drainage are yours: ten minutes and no tools. Stiff locks, dropped hinges, failed units and doors that no longer meet their frames are ours: they need adjustment or parts, and they are quick jobs in autumn when the diary is not full of emergencies.
Found something?
Book the small fix before it becomes a winter callout.
Stiff locks, dropped doors, failed units and perished seals are all quicker and cheaper to sort now. Tell us what you found on the walk-round and we will take it from there.
From the blog
Keep reading.
Why uPVC doors stick in wet weather
A door that locked fine all summer and drags in October is a seasonal pattern with a mechanical cause. What autumn does to doors, and the fix.
A new front door before winter: composite or uPVC, honestly
Composite and uPVC front doors compared honestly: warmth, security, colour, feel and cost logic, and which one actually suits your house before winter.
Misted double glazing: why windows go cloudy and how it's fixed
Cloudy glazing you cannot wipe clean means the sealed unit has failed. Why it happens, why it will not recover and how replacement works without new frames.
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