MAINTENANCE & REPAIRS

Your Home

Internal decoration

It is your responsibility to decorate the inside of your home. We will decorate the outside and shared parts. If you are disabled or elderly and there is no one to help you, please contact our head office and we may be able to find someone to help, although we cannot guarantee this.

Gardening

If you have exclusive use of a garden, you are responsible for looking after it. We will maintain common garden areas but tenants who enjoy gardening and would like to help are always welcome. If you want to do this, please contact your Estate Manager or Sheltered Scheme Manager.

Condensation

Dampness is often caused by condensation. This happens when moist air reaches a cold surface and forms droplets of water. Condensation can be caused by water vapour and steam from cooking, hot baths or from drying clothes. To reduce the amount of condensation in the air, try to:

• Avoid drying clothes indoors and vent all tumble dryers to the outside
• Have enough ventilation when cooking, keeping lids on saucepans
• Close kitchen and bathroom doors when these rooms are being used
• Keep a constant background heat in your home during the winter months; this maybe cheaper than trying to heat the home from cold in the evening

Do not use paraffin or liquid gas fires – apart from the fire risk, they also give off a lot of water vapour

Frost protection

Serious damage can be done to pipes, cisterns, sinks and basins by water expanding when it freezes in cold weather. The result will only be seen when the water thaws again and flooding happens. At the start of a cold spell, take these precautions:

• Keep your home as warm as possible
• Know where to find the main stop valve and how to turn it off. (If you think it does not work properly, ask us to check and repair it)

Emergencies

If you suffer a burst pipe, turn off the stop valve and open the taps to reduce the amount of water in the system. If the water has flooded through a light fitting, do not turn the light on until it has been checked. You should be aware of where the main fuses and water stopcocks are located in your flat before there is an emergency. The Estate Manager or Sheltered Scheme Manager would be pleased to give you any advice you may need.