Small jobs worth bundling before each season turns
The Abimeister team · Updated · 4 min read
Most flats and houses collect the same small faults between one season and the next: a door that has started to catch, a hinge that squeaks, silicone that has gone grey and pulled away from the tile. None of these is urgent on its own, which is exactly why they get postponed. Booking one visit at each seasonal change, rather than waiting for each fault to become annoying enough to act on, is usually the more sensible way to deal with them.
Why the turn of the season is the right moment to bundle jobs
A door frame, a window seal and a bit of silicone in the bathroom do not fail on the same day, but they all move with the same swings in temperature and humidity. Wood swells in damp autumn weather and shrinks again once the heating dries the air out. Rubber seals stiffen in the cold. Grouting that survived summer often starts letting water through once the first frost sets in.
Because the causes are shared, the fixes are best done together rather than one at a time as each becomes noticeable. A single call-out covering four or five small jobs costs less in total than four or five separate visits, and it means nothing sits half-broken for another three months waiting to be dealt with.
What usually goes on the autumn list
Before the heating season starts is the point to check that doors and windows actually close properly, since a door that does not sit square in its frame will let cold air through all winter. It is also worth checking rubber window seals, which harden with age and stop sealing once the temperature drops.
This is a natural point to book an odd-jobs visit and get several things looked at at once, rather than one call-out per fault.
- Adjust door and window hinges so they close square and latch properly
- Check and, where needed, replace rubber seals on windows and balcony doors
- Refresh silicone around bathroom fittings and kitchen worktops before the damp season
- Tighten loose door handles, hinges and cabinet fittings that have started to work loose
- Change or clean ventilation and cooker hood filters before the flat is sealed up for winter
- Check that exterior door thresholds still sit flush and do not let in draughts
What turns up once the snow has melted
Spring shows up what winter did. Frost heave can shift fence posts and gate hinges, meltwater finds its way into gaps in silicone or flashing that looked fine in October, and doors that swelled with damp over winter often need their hinges adjusted again once they dry out.
It is also the point to check anything outside that was under snow for months: gutters, door canopies, exterior lighting fixed to a wall. A short walk round the outside of the house or block, done deliberately rather than in passing, usually turns up two or three small things worth fixing before they get worse.
The same logic applies indoors. Windows that were kept shut all winter are worth opening and checking properly, since a stiff mechanism or a torn seal is easier to spot once you are using the window daily again.
Summer is the time for jobs winter never leaves room for
Once the heating is off and the weather is dry, it is worth tackling anything that needs a door or window left open for a while, or that involves drying time, such as resealing a shower cubicle or repainting a windowsill. Cold, damp weather makes these jobs slower and less reliable.
Summer is also a sensible time to deal with anything outside: repainting or oiling a wooden door, checking exterior sealant around window frames, or servicing hardware that has been exposed to a winter of salt and grit. Dry weeks are also the easiest time to get at anything on a roof or balcony that needs a look.
In blocks of flats and housing associations the principle is the same, just larger in scale
A korteriühistu faces the same seasonal pattern multiplied across dozens of doors, windows and fittings: entrance doors that no longer close properly, hinges on shared doors that have worked loose, silicone in shared bathrooms or laundry rooms that needs redoing, ventilation filters in plant rooms that should be changed before winter.
For a building rather than a single flat, this usually makes more sense as a building maintenance visit than a string of individual odd-jobs call-outs, since one visit can cover the entrance, the stairwell, and any shared fittings in one pass. Office and building maintenance, from 49 € per hour, is set up for exactly this kind of scheduled round rather than a single fault.
When it is worth doing yourself
Tightening a visibly loose screw on a door hinge, wiping down and re-lubricating a stiff window mechanism, or replacing a cheap foam draught strip are all within reach of most people with a screwdriver and half an hour. If a job takes longer to describe than to do, it is probably worth doing yourself.
Where it stops being worth it is once you are dealing with several small faults at once, need the right silicone or seal profile bought and fitted correctly, or the fix involves a door or window that is out of true rather than just stiff. At that point a single odd-jobs visit, from 39 € per hour with a 25 € call-out in Tallinn deducted from the bill, usually costs less in time and materials than doing each job separately yourself.
Small faults from doors, hinges, silicone and filters share the same seasonal causes, so one bundled visit each season is usually cheaper and simpler than fixing each one as it appears.