Draught proofing in Fulham

Where the cold gets into a Fulham house

Stand by a sash window in a Fulham terrace on a windy evening and you will often feel it before you see it. Air slips in where the two sashes meet in the middle, along the sides where the sashes slide, and under the bottom rail. Front doors let it in under the threshold, around the frame and straight through the letterbox.

Then there are the floors. Many period houses have bare timber floorboards that were sanded and left on show, and the gaps between them open onto a cold void below. Ground floor and garden flats feel this most. Loft hatches in top floor flats are another spot that is easy to forget.

Draught proofing sash windows

This is the job we are asked about most. Sash windows do not need to be replaced to stop draughts. The sashes come out, a small slot is cut along the staff beads and parting beads, and a brush strip (a narrow line of soft pile, like a very fine brush) is fitted into it. The meeting rails, where the top and bottom sashes overlap, get a seal too, and the bottom of the lower sash gets one where it meets the sill.

Fitted this way, the seals are hidden once the window is closed and the sashes still slide. It works well only on windows that are already in good order, so if the cords are frayed or the sashes stick, those are sorted first. Our sash window repairs page explains that side of the work in more detail.

Doors, letterboxes and keyholes

A front door with a gap you can see daylight through is losing heat every hour. Compression seals or brush strips can be fitted around the frame, and a weatherboard or a brush seal along the bottom stops the gust at floor level. A letterbox with an internal brush flap makes a surprising difference in a narrow Victorian hallway.

Keyhole covers, threshold strips and seals on back doors to the garden are all small jobs that add up. Internal doors to a cold hall or a rarely used room can have a simple brush strip fitted at the bottom too.

Floorboards, skirting and loft hatches

Gaps between floorboards can be filled with thin timber slivers glued into place, or with a flexible filler made for floors that moves as the boards do. The gap along the bottom of the skirting board can be sealed with a bead of decorator's caulk or covered with a small timber moulding.

Loft hatches let warm air straight up into the roof. A strip of compression seal around the frame and a catch that pulls the hatch down tight usually fixes it. These jobs are often done together on one visit for homes in Parsons Green, Sands End and Hammersmith.

Do not block ventilation

Good draught proofing stops the gaps you do not want and leaves alone the ones you need. Air bricks in outside walls let the space under suspended floors breathe and help keep the joists dry. Trickle vents in windows and extractor fans in kitchens and bathrooms help keep condensation and mould down.

Gas appliances need air too. Gas Safe Register warns never to block or cover air vents and flues, because gas appliances rely on them to work safely. If you have a gas fire, an open flued boiler or an older cooker, we leave its vents completely clear. Any work on gas appliances or flues is done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. We will arrange this for you.

Draught proofing in Fulham's listed and conservation area homes

Around half of Hammersmith and Fulham sits in conservation areas, such as Fulham Park Gardens and Central Fulham. Hidden brush seals fitted into existing beads keep the outside look of the window the same, which is one reason sash draught proofing is popular with owners who want to keep original timber windows.

Listed buildings are stricter. Hammersmith and Fulham Council says Listed Building Consent is needed even for some internal works, giving secondary glazing as an example. If your home is listed, speak to the council before any changes are made to the windows.

Common questions