StopGap Floorboard Draught Excluder - Brown

Product Information

If you live in a period home with original wood flooring you may know how draughty these gaps can be, but you might still be surprised to know just how much heat is being lost through the spaces between your floorboards. As draughty as an open window I created StopGap to fill a gap in the market when I found my newly redecorated Edwardian home was colder and draughtier than before. When I realised it was all down to the cold air coming from the gaps in the floorboards I thought finding an effective filler would be easy, but I was wrong. Foam or rubber draught excluders - Ideal for sealing gaps between windows, doors and floorboards, these foam or rubber strips are easy to install, even in small gaps, to prevent warm air from escaping or cool air from creeping in. Nothing will give you a better sense of whether something is worth buying and is cost-effective than an honest, unbiased review from a real parent. That’s why our first port of call is always the Mumsnet forums where we trawl the Talk boards to seek out recommendations and top tips from the Mumsnet community. Expert opinions

DraughtEx Floorboard Gap Filler for Draught Proofing Floors

Ventilation is especially important for kitchens and bathrooms. Any rooms with open fires and flues must be adequately ventilated. It’s not advisable to sand original old floorboards. Apart from destroying the patina, the surface can be destabilised – for example wood-boring beetle larvae may have been busy tunnelling below the surface and if you take off the top layer the unsightly, worm-ridden wood will be on view. Thereafter, the movement of people around the house, moving in and out, and naturally opening and closing windows and doors will deal with other ventilation needs.A well-fitting draught excluder is the easiest and cheapest way to stop draughts coming through your doors. Never remove original floorboards in exchange for a new floor. It could devalue your house and ruin the integrity of a Period Property. From investing in the best electric blanket to pre-warming beds with a hot water bottle, many of us are looking for cost-effective solutions to stay warm this winter without cranking up the central heating. With energy bills remaining high, when you do turn up the thermostat, the last thing you need is for all that precious heat to escape. Fitting the best draught excluders throughout your house can keep your home warmer and prevent cold air from getting in through doors, chimneys, windows and even the gaps in your floorboards. Don’t be put off restoring an original wood floor by the prospect of cold rooms, high heating bills and constant draughts; with StopGap you can experience the joys of real wood floors with none of the downsides.

Sealing Floorboard Gaps - StopGap

His interest in renewable energy and sustainability was first inspired by visits to the Royal Festival Hall heat pump and the Edmonton heat-from-waste projects. In 1979Areas to focus on are floor boards, skirting boards, where window and door frames meet the wall and the ceiling-to-wall junctions. The less obvious areas are keyholes, kitchen cupboards (where pipes are likely to penetrate walls), loft hatches and downlights.

Draught Proofing: 11 Ways to Eliminate Draughts | Homebuilding Draught Proofing: 11 Ways to Eliminate Draughts | Homebuilding

All homes need some ventilation but the difference between ventilation and draughts is that ventilation is a flow of air that is controlled. Draughts are gusts of cold air where you don’t want them. Cold air flowing in from either the outside, or an unheated area of the house will cause you to feel cold and turn your heating up. This in turn costs you more money and is bad for the environment. Where do the draughts come from? The difference between draughts and ventilation is one of control. Draughts are uncontrolled, while ventilation is ours to switch on and off at will. Home ventilation in the form of extractor fans and cooker hoods will ensure that condensation is properly dealt with, at source. We took into account what reviewers were saying regarding value for money, effectiveness and whether or not they were easy to install. About the author

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this initial burst of enthusiasm lead to him trying (and failing) to build a biogas digester to convert pig manure into fuel, at a Kent oast-house, his first conversion project. The very nature of wooden floors amplifies the problem. Changes in temperature and humidity cause your floorboards to expand and contract – and with them the gaps. Throughout the winter your central heating will be running and keeping the house warm and dry, keeping your floorboards free of moisture. During this time the floorboards will be at their smallest, meaning that the gaps between them will be at their largest. This, in turn, means more draughts and higher heating bills through the coldest months of the year. A flexible seal Easy to install with the free applicator, DraughtEx requires no adhesives and compliments the overall finish of your floorboards. The specially formulated colour “Shadow” has been designed to mimic the natural shadows created between floorboards and is almost invisible to the naked eye. Fabric draught excluder - Usually long and chunky tubes placed in front of the door when you're settling down in a room. They prevent air loss from underneath the door frame and tend to come in attractive designs. However, they may need moving to open and close the door. Its flexible properties allow DraughtEx to be applied to a wide range of gaps that will be completely sealed. The filler can also be used to seal gaps between floorboards and skirting boards. DraughtEx comes supplied with a free applicator and comes in 3 sizes, thin for gaps of 3mm or less, standard for gaps of 2 – 7mm, and large for gaps of 6-11mm.

Floorboard gaps - Seal them with StopGap Floorboard gaps - Seal them with StopGap

You could also hang a pair of thermal curtains, which will make a big difference, particularly if your front door opens straight into your living area. Cold may also come in through gaps around the edges of your door so you may need to fill them with foam or a seal, or also consider purchasing a letterbox draught excluder too. Finally, if you really want to go all out, you can get a keyhole cover such as this STORMGUARD one. These are metal discs designed to drop over the hole and keep out the cold. Tim is an expert in sustainable building methods and energy efficiency in residential homes and writes on the subject for magazines and national newspapers. He is the author of The Sustainable Building Bible, Simply Sustainable Homes and Anaerobic Digestion - Making Biogas - Making Energy: The Earthscan Expert Guide. For narrow gaps stretch the seal: When dealing with narrow gaps don’t try to force the sealant in by pressing hard with the applicator tool. Instead stretch the strip as you push it into the gap – once in place it expands to fill the gap. Two sizes of DraughtEx are available, one for gaps with widths of 2mm-8mm, and one for 6mm-12mm gaps. STOP THE PRESS! StopGap was chosen once again by The Guardian as one of the best ways to protect your home from the cold.In an average sized room there are up to 50 metres of floorboards. This means up to 100 metres of gaps, which can be as wide as 8mm. Add all these tiny gaps together and you could find that the spaces between your floorboards add up to the size of an open window. Even in carpeted rooms, the gaps underneath the skirting boards can add up to a significant heat loss. Have you done it yet? It’s time to draught-proof your home Posted on Friday 14th October 2016 by Bettie Mark every draught source and visit your DIY shed, or go online, and look for suitable remedial products. Believe it or not, your problem will not be unique — every possible draught has been considered and appropriate products produced. Where to Buy Draught Proofing Supplies Letterbox draught excluder - These are fitted inside your letter box to prevent draughts whilst maintaining relatively easy access for your postie.