Wow 101 
, that’s amazing 
No, you haven’t touched upon a nerve, I just know from experience that houses have lots of idiosyncrasies. There are particular things that I ask about, because I have encountered them on previous sits, that’s why I suggested that you ask. If you don’t ask before you arrive it’s too late for them to remedy it.
There’s definitely been a number of KNACKS needed in locking/unlocking some doors on my UK sits!
I just finished a sit where multiple doors (including the entry) had handles that fell off if not manipulated just right. I could not open the back door at all. Luckily, it rained enough that I didn’t need to water the plants. The garage door didn’t open to roll out the garbage bins. They expected me to drag them through the house while also not letting the cats out. The bedroom was on the third floor with no toilet there. I was told the plumbing was broken so I should not use the toilet on the second floor. I use a toilet multiple times during the night, so disclosure of this “quirk” would have been nice. None of these items were disclosed and they are only a small subset of what I encountered. The cats were sweet.
Hope you write an honest review, so other sitters can make an informed decision on whether to pursue future sits with this host.
As @Maggie8K advises, do ensure you write about these ‘quirks’ in your review. Good to know the cats were sweet!
So true about door idiosyncrasies! There’s a type of lock in Europe where you have to pull the handle UP to actually make it lock? It had totally eluded me on a couple of (paid) accommodations during previous trips. Very thankful to my THS host in may for explaining it! I still didn’t really get the KNACK but at least I had more of a clue of what to try! I have an anxious blurry memory of being somewhere in France with a key that wasn’t working and I would occasionally just do the right thing by accident!
We encountered this at Airbnb‘s in the UK and were fortunate that the first time we were in one with this type of lock, the owner settled us in and showed us how to work it.
Later on at a house sit here in the US, the HO started to tell me about “the unusual lock” and I could proudly say I knew how they worked! But they are very uncommon here.
I feel like almost every home that I’ve done a sit in has had something quirky like this that the homeowners have just gotten used to living with.
The worst was a short sit in which dishes had to be washed in the kitchen sink (no dishwasher) and the hot water wasn’t working. It was a rental, so we contacted the building manager, and they promptly fixed it. The tenants we were petsitting for were aware of the problem but hadn’t bothered to ask for it to be fixed.
I didn’t want to think about the fact that none of the dishes, silverware, or glasses we had to use had ever been washed with anything but cold water!
Right on, Brother! Owners, … Fix that damn door!
And by all means, install one with an electronic code for the dead-bolt.
Easier to provide than an actual key. But hide that back-up key in the flower pot!
We’ve only been using TrustedHousesitters for a short while, and so far, have found it really useful with the sitters being great.
The concept is great. The pet/home owners get someone to look after their home and pets for free, while the sitters get accomodation for free. Lots of trust involved, and it seems to work fine.
I’m not sure who benefits most. Obviously getting someone to look after a pet would normally cost money. However, accomodation is very expensive, and I feel it is an enormous part of the ‘contract’ to give your home away (for however long is necessary) for free. If I was getting a thousand pounds a week for my home (which I could get), I would expect a responsibility to provide immaculate accomodation, with nothing wrong with anything. I think there should some acceptance that your temporary home might not be as perfect as one would like. I think, often enough, the little foibles that one lives with in their own home become second nature, and are simply forgotten when handing over your home to someone new. Shouldn’t there be a contactable phone number where the sitter could call and simply ask how any ‘knacks’ could be mastered?
For me this is a very British idiosyncrasy, I have lived a long time in Australia and everytime I come back to the UK I notice these type of issues door don’t close or are sticky, especially bathroom doors or bedroom doors also squeaky staircases and creaky noisy doors, very low water pressure especially when you flush toilet or take a shower it’s dam infuriating to have to try to get wet ! Lots of things seem to be a little unfinished or never really worked fully to begin with…. Sorry just my little whinge
Welcome to the forum @JanetFullarton 
as someone who has lived in the UK my whole life, I agree!
Everything you’ve mentioned is something I’ve found in multiple properties - particularly the home I grew up in 
I realise it’s because I’ve always lived in really old places, I’d hope newer builds aren’t quite so bad.
I’ve encountered the sticky door or lock problem in the U.S. and U.K. It’s probably an issue with a good number of older homes in various parts of the world, because houses settle as they get older and wood (often used in doors and frames) expands and shrinks, depending on the weather. The older the home, the more settling is likely. When it’s been an issue, hosts have usually shown me if there’s a trick when we overlap.
Tangentially, I recommend trying your door key before the host leaves, if you overlap. That’s in case they just had a fresh key cut and it wasn’t cut well.