Keeping a cottage warm with draught-proofing methods

A cottage is a lovely thing in July and a slightly punishing one in January. Solid stone or brick walls, suspended timber floors and a chimney or two were built for a world of cheap coal and draughts taken for granted. The good news is that most of the warmth you are losing is escaping through a handful of gaps you can find in an afternoon with a candle, a roll of masking tape and some patience.

Why old cottages feel cold

It is rarely the walls alone. A cottage sitting on a hillside takes the wind full on one side, and that pressure pushes cold air in through every unsealed joint while warm air is drawn out on the sheltered side. This is why a room can feel freezing while the thermometer insists it is fourteen degrees. Old walls also need to breathe, so the aim is not to wrap the house in plastic but to slow moving air down while leaving the fabric able to dry out.

Before you buy anything, find out where the cold is actually coming from:

• A lit candle or a thin strip of tissue held near joints on a windy day
• Damp patches or sooty smudges, which often mark an old draught path
• A hand run along skirting boards, window reveals and door frames after dark
• Your ankles, which will tell you about floorboard gaps faster than any gadget

Start with the chimney

An unused open fireplace is little more than a hole in the roof. Warm air pours up the flue all evening, and cold air comes back down when the fire is out. A chimney balloon, inflated and pushed up past the gather, will stop most of it, and a wool draught excluder stuffed into the throat does a similar job for less money. Either way, remove it before lighting a fire, or better still fit a small notice to the grate so nobody forgets.

If your chimney is capped and the flue is genuinely unused, seal it but leave a little ventilation at the bottom, because a fully closed flue can gather condensation and stain the chimney breast. A brush draught excluder across an open fireplace that is still in use keeps the worst of the down-draught out without blocking the fire's own draw.

Floorboards, skirting and the gaps between

Old boards shrink over decades, and the gaps between them act like a hundred tiny letterboxes for the wind. Push a foam backer rod into wider gaps and seal over the top with a flexible acrylic sealant that will move with the timber. For narrower gaps, thin slivers of matching wood glued in and waxed look far better than a bead of shiny silicone and will take a stain.

Do not forget the skirting board itself. A thin bead of sealant along the top edge, or a small wooden moulding pinned in place, closes the gap between board and wall where cold air slips in behind the plaster. Underlay and a thick rug will do the rest, and they make the room feel warmer underfoot even before the bills change.

Doors, letterboxes and other small holes

Front doors are usually the worst offender. A brush strip screwed to the bottom of the door, or a heavy fabric draught excluder laid across the threshold, makes an immediate difference. Letterboxes benefit from a brush seal on both sides of the flap, and keyholes deserve a covered escutcheon, which costs very little and stops a surprising amount of cold air.

Check the frame as well as the door. Self-adhesive foam or rubber seals along the stops are quick to fit, though on an old uneven frame a screw-on brush strip is more forgiving. Cat flaps, outside taps and old meter boxes are all worth a look.

Windows and the power of a heavy curtain

Sash windows are beautiful and leaky in equal measure. Brush seals fitted into the staff beads let the sashes still slide while closing the gap, and secondary glazing film taped to the frame for the winter is cheap, reversible and remarkably effective. Keep trickle vents clear if you have them, and never seal up a room so tightly that it becomes stuffy.

Then hang something substantial. A heavy curtain with a thermal lining, on a track that runs past the edges of the reveal, will hold back more heat than most people expect. Add a pelmet or a simple fabric valance to stop warm air sliding behind the curtain and cooling. Curtains should fall to the sill or the floor rather than draping over a radiator, and where a radiator sits under a window, tucking the curtain behind it or fitting a shelf above keeps the heat in the room instead of the window.

Where sealing must stop

Some draughts are doing a job. Air bricks and sub-floor vents must stay open to keep timbers dry, and any room with a gas appliance or an open fire needs permanent ventilation to stay safe. Keep a carbon monoxide alarm fitted, leave kitchen and bathroom extractor fans working, and let moisture out after cooking or bathing. Solid walls should be patched with lime rather than cement, so any damp that does get in can still evaporate.

A sensible order of work

Spend your time and money where the gaps are biggest first:

• Chimney, letterbox, keyhole and door bottoms
• Floorboard gaps and skirting boards
• Window seals and simple secondary glazing
• Heavy lined curtains, pelmets and rugs
• Then, once the draughts have gone, consider insulation

None of it is glamorous, and most of it can be done in an afternoon with a kettle on. But a cottage that holds its warmth keeps its character too, and there is a particular pleasure in sitting by the fire in February knowing the wind is doing its worst outside and getting nowhere.