Sunday, February 05, 2012

Peace at last

The kitchen door to our house is made of aluminium* and has vents top and bottom. They are there because we have gas; not necessary for the boiler which has a balanced flue but if we had a gas hob then they would be essential (there are no air bricks in the kitchen).

Since our hob and oven are electric, in winter I cover the vents with pieces of foam rubber. That stops the wind blowing through and prevents the hot air from escaping. However, even with the foam in place, the wind from the west was still howling through the door. At night we had to  turn the television up to drown the sound out. It has been like that for over seven years but not any more.

One night, when the wind was howling through the door, Pam pushed her foot against the bottom of it and miraculously the sound stopped. Although there is a rubber seal all round, the bottom of the door is slightly out of line and so the seal was not effective there. So, on my next trip to the ferrateria I bought a roll of one of those self adhesive foam strips and last night found the right place to apply it. Instantly, the howling stopped and peace returned to Casa El Willo – great result.

It has only taken me seven years to work this one out, just think what I might accomplish over the rest of my life!

* In case you are thinking – aluminium door – that is easy to break into;  we have a steel security gate outside it which has been heavily reinforced with extra locks, bolts into the brickwork and industrial strength hinges. 

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