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My flat is on the ground floor of a 1930s building of six. Two flats per floor, with front and back common area entrances/stairwells separating the flats.
The front and back doors for each flat face the corresponding door of the neighbouring flat and are very close. Between 3m and 4m apart. On the ground floor each of these doors has a screen door.
Recently new neighbours purchased and moved into the other ground floor flat. They seem friendly and sensible and we’ve had a few pleasant short conversations, but I don’t really know them well.
At least one of them has a tendency to leave their screen door open 60° to 90° when leaving and entering the flat. (And I’m not talking about a quick trip to the clothes line – the back screen door is often left open for long stretches. Ditto at the front.)
My concerns…
a) when left ajar, the screen door intrudes into the common area/thoroughfare; obstructively so at the front owing to the placement of the stairs – you’d have to step around the open screen door to get to my own door or up the stairs
b) the leading edge of an open screen door is potentially a tripping hazard or could cause injury if someone stumbled into it
c) it detracts from the appearance of these common areas, which are the front and back entryways for all six flats; especially at the back where the wooden doors are badly in need of painting
d) potentially a security risk – not because the screen doors themselves are especially secure but from the impression that might be given to anyone casing the building
To date I have simply been closing the screen doors if they are open when I pass them. But tbh that’s getting a bit tiresome. And I actually don’t like doing it. Not routinely.
So I’m planning to raise it with my neighbours when next we chat. (Perhaps they have a good reason for liking to leave their screen door ajar – as opposed to simply not caring whether it’s open or not – although I’m stumped trying to think what that would be.)
And so to my questions…
1. Of my concerns above, which ones, if any, might be considered to have real validity in terms of common areas and so on?
(As opposed to those that might be reasonably dismissed as my personal preference and thus have little standing because, after all, it’s not my flat.)
2. Also, does anyone have any advice of a recommended way to approach this matter? (Beyond common sense friendly courtesy, using “when-you-do-this-I-” phrasing, and so on.)
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