Good Natured Gate Advice for Freezing Weather.

8 years ago

First few weeks of really cold weather have seen some seasonal issues raise there heads in the Portcullis HQ. So here are two things to bare in mind if you've gates, automated or not, in this freezing weather.

Freezing Ground: Everyone knows water expands when it freezes, Times this by several thousand, thousand pieces of gravel and the ground can rise quite considerably in the cold. This in turn can cause problems with your gates opening and closing. So if your gates do falter it maybe your driveway surface that is the problem not your gates.

Secondly, everyone rushes sometimes when trying to get out of the house. The challenge is that people driving out of their own homes under estimate just how icey their drive ways are. When drivers break just in front their gates first thing in the morning, they often don't account for how much ice is on their drive. As they break they can skid and go straight in to their own gates or gate posts.

The Frost looks beautiful, and we hope you all enjoy its wintry beauty without mishap.

I hope this will help at least a few people from ice related hassels. Please feel free to add your own advice in the comments.

With Very Best Wishes to All Houzzers from Portcullis-Gates.co.uk

Comment

Related Discussions
My house is FREEZING - any tips?
Q
Comments (23)
Stephen Edwards makes a really good point about the thermostat, and it works both ways (ie causing the heating to come on when you don't need it, as well as going off when you do!). Thermostats are often placed in the hallway, which can be colder than the rest of the house by cold air coming in through a draughty front door. It sounds like you have systemic problems to solve, but once those are sorted out you could look at draughtproofing, paying particular attention to anywhere that affects the thermostat. If you identify your letterbox as draughty you could look at fitting one of our letterbox solutions (we do a lovely stainless steel front letterplate as well as an inner letter box draught excluder), and if you have a pet that's going in and out through a draughty, rattly old catflap we do a pet door too. Hope you get things sorted in time for the cold weather!
...See More
Front Garden Planting Advice Please!
Q
Comments (14)
It looks a very good start. Now think about adding more interest to the gravel, perhaps by interspersing the 'lollipop trees' with neat but interesting shrubs. These could be scented such as Sarcoccoca (winter scent), Daphne odora (spring scent)... And adding a border in front of the house with appropriate plants. I would need to now the orientation of the garden and whether the soil is alkaline/acid/neutral and clay/loam/sand/chalk before recommending plants. If you do not need to park a vehicle in front of the house, and with the right soil and aspect you could add a rectangular herb garden.
...See More
Advice to make my cold, plain, open plan space feel warm and inviting!
Q
Comments (32)
Hi Catherine, You have a lovely open plan kitchen and lounge, but as you say, it lacks punch and interest. Since you're stuck with the stainless steel kitchen for the time being, you need to work with it and have some fun. A symmetrical arrangement of stainless steel shelves either side of the splash back for the cooker would allow you to put up interesting bottles, plants, china, etc. What about painting this wall a bright colour like Seville Orange from Crown and the other walls in natural white. You could also paint the base of the island in the Seville Orange. In the seating area, use the orange colour and some others like plum or blue-grey in fabric patterns, have cushions made up for the seating area. Also an area rug large enough for the front feet of your sofas and the coffee table to sit on with colour would brighten up this area. It's unfortunate that the TV is blocking a French window. Can it be moved somewhere else, perhaps the bay if the bottom shutters are never opened? Instead of half of the bay window having plantation shutters, I would recommend a second upper row, which could be folded back or, if you don't need coverage for privacy on the upper windows, have an interesting, colourful valance. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=valance+and+plantation+shutters+for+a+bay+window&biw=1516&bih=839&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIzdu7xO-FyAIVh0gUCh1aigXI&dpr=0.95#tbm=isch&q=valance++for+a+bay+window&imgrc=SjLxqYYGnQmhlM%3A
...See More
Freezing Lounge - ideas needed
Q
Comments (21)
As an experienced architectural designer my answer deals with your specific problems, but also contains general advice which could be useful to other readers, so please don't be offended or take what I write personally... I'm just trying to help people. I notice your house has a massive external surface area with which to lose heat, plus lots of windows so it will not be an easy house to keep warm! It would be very sensible to check out your whole house internally and externally with an infra-red thermometer as this will show up the worst heat loss spots. They could be around window frames, doors, skirting, ceilings and these are the places to target your heat loss fighting energy and finance. Your problem could be caused by a whole range of issues. Do you have a suspended timber floor which is ventilated? Just like your open chimney, the wind will rob any heat from the room unless you stop it doing so. This would involve insulating the floor in some way, and if you were taking up the floorboards you would be wise to treat the joists (especially the ends) and check for evidence of mice, which can play havoc in cavity wall insulation. Taking up the floor is a very disruptive job, which is why it has not been done in my house. Untreated timber could rot if ventilation is restricted by close-fitting insulation. If you have an unventilated floor, it may not have any or enough insulation. Also, beware of internal insulation as a solution, as this makes your outside walls colder/damper and usually leads to later problems with damp/mould/rot and expensive remedial work, even structural failure. Make sure you follow the advice of a competent person who understands how complex building physics can be. (Building services engineer). Bay windows are usually really poor bits of construction... If your double glazing has a large gap between the panes of around 20mm, it may not be the real problem. If the spacers (between the glass) are shiny aluminium, this is not good, so if you ever replace the glazing, don't settle for anything less than Edgetech Superspacer or Truplas, the very best warm edge spacers available. I live in a 1930's ex council house and I have blocked the only remaining chimney with a massive bag of loft insulation. The floor was already overlaid with a cheap laminate floor, so the floor gets cold when the winter winds roar. Reflective blinds (checkout Reflex Rol) can be used, but with a bay window, fitting will be complex and heat will still escape around the edges of the blind. Reflective foil is able to bounce radiant energy away from itself, but there should always be an airspace on each side of the foil or the energy just conducts through to the cold side. If the window faces south, then blinds could make the room even colder, unless you always remember to raise them early each morning - the same goes for thermal shutters. My house in Somerset has a gas combi boiler which has hardly needed to come on at all so far this winter. My gas and electricity comes from EBICO, as they have no standing charges. I have insulated the house externally with 50mm of Celotex, covered with treated battens and Marley Cedral weatherboard (which does not rot) and only adds around 80mm to the wall thickness, plus Cedral is perfect for eaves boards and soffits. (You can paint it whatever colour you like). This, plus a porch outside the front door has made a massive difference to my warmth as I am 70 and now live on my own. The attic has been properly insulated and boarded to become an unofficial room. I am lucky to have two unshaded windows that face south and they bring in lots of free energy. I am not stupid and I'm often in and out to my garden, so in winter I wear a vest under my T shirt, as well as a fleece and longjohns under my trousers (get them at Lidl) which is also a good place to buy LED lights. Always start with energy conservation and insulation rather than things that burn timber or fossils fuels and ignore the real problem. I would avoid burning wood, given the state our atmosphere and lungs are in. We are not cave men anymore and should be evolving. New energy efficient houses sometimes feature large south-facing PV roofs which directly heat a central water tank or can feed electric underfloor heated zones - and just like my 1970's experimental solar house, these super-insulated dwellings do not have a 'normal heating system'. I can't stand curtains, they look a mess, often block out solar radiation / light and have to be washed. I like close-fitting wooden floors which you can simply sweep with a brush and run over with an upright vac-cleaner. Tiles are a pain to keep clean and can break your hip as well as things you drop. We can save lots of money and energy by not buying things that need to be washed and dried, as well as things we really don't need!
...See More

Good Natured Gate Advice for Freezing Weather.

Comment

Related Discussions

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US