Sarah's adventures in blocking out light

Saz94

Saz94

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
This didn't used to be an issue, but I've been noticing recently more & more that there's light coming in at the top of my bedroom door and at one side. (I need to have my bedroom in total blackout). I think maybe as time has gone by, the door has become less snugly fitting in the frame? Like, there used to always be a *bit* of light coming through, but it seems to have gotten greater.

What can we do to block this light out? Obviously we need to still be able to open and close the door.

The side of the door that's the problem is... um I don't know how to describe it... the side which doesn't have the hinges on. And the top of the door.
 
Sarah94 said:
I've been hearing about adhesive foam strips which are used to block draughts (or drafts?), but I don't understand how these work. How do they not stop the door from opening and closing?
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Many years ago I adapted my bedroom so it could be quickly converted into a photography dark room. The foam draft excluder worked every well for gaps where they were not too large.

It is self-adhesive on one side, and the idea is that you place it so that as the door closes it will compress the foam strip, not "scrape" across it. So on the part of the frame where the hinges are for instance, place the strip on the same bit of wood as the hinges, but on the opposite edge, where the trim strip is. As the door closes it will then butt onto the strip and compress it. Use the same logic for where to do the other edges, so the foam strip gets compressed. You will find that near the hinges it will mostly compress, but be subject to the door scraping across is a bit also, but it usually works OK.

This assumes your door frames have trim strips that the door closes onto; I think they all must have else would not close properly. In which case what I'm saying should work. The foam I'm thinking of typically is very soft and compresses a lot. You don't have to fill the gap you see the light in, just somewhere in the light path it is getting though.
 
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Sarah94 said:
I've been hearing about adhesive foam strips which are used to block draughts (or drafts?), but I don't understand how these work. How do they not stop the door from opening and closing?
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Because they fill the gaps between the door and the frame. I use them on my front door which is an old wooden door and ill-fitting. They're only about 5 mm thick.
 
Barry said:
Many years ago I adapted my bedroom so it could be quickly converted into a photography dark room. The foam draft excluder worked every well for gaps where they were not too large.

It is self-adhesive on one side, and the idea is that you place so that as the door closes it will compress the foam strip, not "scrape" across it. So on the part of the frame where the hinges are, place the strip on the same bit of wood as the hinges, but on the opposite edge, where the trim strip is. As the door closes it will then butt onto the strip and compress it. Use the same logic for where to do the other edges, so the foam strip gets compressed. You will find that near the hinges it will mostly compress, but be subject to the door scraping across is a bit also, but it usually works OK.
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Thanks Barry. Please could you help me select a good product? I've had a look on Amazon and I don't know which would be the best one to pick.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/s?k=foam+draft+excluder&ref=nb_sb_noss

Also, how do I figure out what size I need?

My brain fog is making this quite confusing - I'm not very spatially-minded even at the best of times!
 
Sarah94 said:
Thanks Barry. Please could you help me select a good product? I've had a look on Amazon and I don't know which would be the best one to pick.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/s?k=foam+draft+excluder&ref=nb_sb_noss

Also, how do I figure out what size I need?

My brain fog is making this quite confusing - I'm not very spatially-minded even at the best of times!
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I was already on the case :).

The stuff I remember using was made by Sellotape, but that was back in the mid '70s, so not too surprising things have changed a bit. So I can't be certain, and I can only offer you my best "guesstimate". So far as I can see these are similar to what I recall:

Amazon product ASIN B00B2KU5AC, which is 7mm wide and 4mm thick.

Amazon product ASIN B0096MWVYG, which is 8mm wide and 6mm thick.

They are not too wide, which is good because you can put it onto the trim strip easier if need be - the trim strips themselves are narrow. And unless the gaps are really big then 4mm is probably OK, but else go for the 6mm if necessary.

The foam on these also looks very low density and therefore very compressible, if you look at it close up.

Is what I would do.
 

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As a quick fix, if you have a big fleece throw or even a fairly thin old towel, chuck that over the door before shutting it. It'll reduce the amount of light bleeding through by quite a bit. I do this every night with one of the old throws I used to put over the bed for my cat to sleep on, and I find it enough.

I chuck another over the curtain rail on one side of the window, where my neighbour's security light comes through the side of the curtain if my pesky cat activates it by jumping over the fence! I'm quite tall, so it's fairly easy for me to do this at night as part of my routine – I realise it's not quite so quick and easy for shorter people, though.
 
You could tape (or otherwise attach) strips of light-blocking material to the outside edges of the door, extending past the opening. I think that would be way more convenient than a whole sheet of fabric. Probably easier than the foam strips too. If you care about how it looks, you could be artistic. If a simple experiment proves successful, you could replace it with more durable material, maybe held on by strips of wood moulding to make it long-lasting and professional-looking.
 
I was going to advise more or less what Creekside has already said. (Comes from being at uni and not wanting a certain person to be able to tell whether I was in my room or not!)

An alternative "draught excluder" would be the stuff that's sold in a reel, but is actually bent in two lengthwise, so that it has a V-shaped profile. Provided you fit it in the right direction, it will get compressed as the door closes, and then should expand outwards again once the door's closed. It's a useful idea where there's not enough of a gap for a 0.5 cm foam strip.
 
Barry said:
I was already on the case :).

The stuff I remember using was made by Sellotape, but that was back in the mid '70s, so not too surprising things have changed a bit. So I can't be certain, and I can only offer you my best "guesstimate". So far as I can see these are similar to what I recall:

Amazon product ASIN B00B2KU5AC, which is 7mm wide and 4mm thick.

Amazon product ASIN B0096MWVYG, which is 8mm wide and 6mm thick.

They are not too wide, which is good because you can put it onto the trim strip easier if need be - the trim strips themselves are narrow. And unless the gaps are really big then 4mm is probably OK, but else go for the 6mm if necessary.

The foam on these also looks very low density and therefore very compressible, if you look at it close up.

Is what I would do.
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Thanks Barry.
 
The foam draft excluders arrived. Mum said she had to talk to Dad before putting them up. Apparently Dad isn't keen on the idea and is "pondering" whether to permit it or not.

I'm pretty pissed off that he gets to choose whether or not to allow something that I need for my wellbeing.

(It's presumably because he thinks it won't look aesthetically nice - that's the reason he refused to get a stairlift when I asked for one!!! I've given up on that idea now, though - I can tolerate occasionally walking up and down stairs if I need to, and don't want to generally spend time downstairs anyway, due to light.)

Mum said I need to explain to him "why the bit of light bothers you so much" because apparently he doesn't understand (pshht, he should understand about ME light sensitivity by now, I've been severe and living with him for 3 years, there is no excuse).

So, I've sent him this email:
Hi Dad

Mum said I need to explain to you why the bit of light coming round my door bothers me so much. I'm writing you an email because I find it much easier to articulate myself this way than out loud.

I'm sorry if some of this is stating things which you already know. Mum said I needed to explain why the light is an issue, and I don't know how much explaining is needed, and I'd rather not have to come back to give additional explanation if something isn't clear.

I will clarify that it's not always an issue. It depends on whether the lights are on outside my room, and if the lights aren't on then it depends on the sunniness of the day and the position of the sun in the sky. But when these circumstances align badly (which they seem to have done a lot recently), there can be quite a significant slice of light coming into my room around the top and the side of the door.

It's a two-pronged issue.

Firstly, it's an issue when I'm trying to sleep. Even seeing that bit of light makes me feel too awake when I need to sleep. And I often need to be able to sleep during the day, because my body seems incapable of maintaining a consistent sleeping pattern.

Secondly, it's an issue when I'm awake but trying to relax in my room - or conversely, when I'm trying to focus on something. With the way my brain is affected by ME, even little sensory things like a bit of light or a noise take up a lot of space in my brain. So if i'm trying to, for example, concentrate on something, having that light coming through makes it a lot harder to concentrate. And when I'm trying to relax, it's likewise an issue because the light is coming through at the side of my vision and constantly stimulating me.

If we don't do something about it, it will cause even more of a problem to me in the summer, when there's only a few hours in every 24 where it's dark outside. But furthermore, in general I struggle to cope at all when the weather is hot. Heat makes my body extremely uncomfortable far more so than it did when I was healthy, amplifies several of my symptoms, and makes my brain work worse. In hot weather my sensitivity to light is much worse, and the light coming round my door may be unbearable.

I feel sure that there didn't used to be so much light coming round my door. I think the door must somehow have become less snugly fitting in its frame over time.

I ordered the insulating foam strips because my research suggested that this is probably the simplest way to block light out around the door. I asked in an ME forum and other patients have found this method successful. One guy also mentioned that he'd previously used this to create a darkroom for photography.

If you have an idea for a different method, I'm all ears, but really do need *something*. And, given the weather warming up, really need to get something sorted by the end of May at the latest (but preferably well before then as it's already causing me problems).

Thanks.

Sarah xx
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And I'm pissed off that I had to exhaust myself writing that email, rather than him just believing me that I need it.
 
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Sarah94 said:
And I'm pissed off that I had to exhaust myself writing that email, rather than him just believing me that I need it.
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Yes, I think I'd have been equally annoyed.

If he really objects to the appearance, the other potential solution is a door curtain on your side of the door. These work really well if the curtain is made of thick fabric with plenty of gathering, and is hung from a close-fitting rail (not a pole) that's long enough to overlap both vertical sides of the door by several inches. A heavy door curtain also has the advantage of dampening sound, and shutting out draughts in cold weather.

You do have to draw it once the door has closed, though. It's not such an issue after you've opened the door yourself to go to the loo or whatever, but if someone has come in to bring you something, it means you have to get up after they've gone. I'm not severely ill, so they've always been fine for me, but they don't suit everyone.
 
Kitty said:
Yes, I think I'd have been equally annoyed.

If he really objects to the appearance, the other potential solution is a door curtain on your side of the door. These work really well if the curtain is made of thick fabric with plenty of gathering, and is hung from a close-fitting rail (not a pole) that's long enough to overlap both vertical sides of the door by several inches. A heavy door curtain also has the advantage of dampening sound, and shutting out draughts in cold weather.

You do have to draw it once the door has closed, though. It's not such an issue after you've opened the door yourself to go to the loo or whatever, but if someone has come in to bring you something, it means you have to get up after they've gone. I'm not severely ill, so they've always been fine for me, but they don't suit everyone.
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Use a portiere rod. It ' s a hinged curtain pole that moves with the door . Number of options available and you can get them made . Not cheap but they do work .
https://www.curtainpole.co.uk/portiere-rods/
 
Kitty said:
Yes, I think I'd have been equally annoyed.

If he really objects to the appearance, the other potential solution is a door curtain on your side of the door. These work really well if the curtain is made of thick fabric with plenty of gathering, and is hung from a close-fitting rail (not a pole) that's long enough to overlap both vertical sides of the door by several inches. A heavy door curtain also has the advantage of dampening sound, and shutting out draughts in cold weather.

You do have to draw it once the door has closed, though. It's not such an issue after you've opened the door yourself to go to the loo or whatever, but if someone has come in to bring you something, it means you have to get up after they've gone. I'm not severely ill, so they've always been fine for me, but they don't suit everyone.
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Surely installing a curtain rail would be a more invasive alteration for the house
 
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