Company News Archives – Draughtex Blog

Victorian Floorboards Get New Lease of Life

Have you ever wondered what your floor would look like if you took up the old carpet and gave your floorboards a new lease of life? Well that is exactly what one of our customers, Mr CW from Cheshire, did.

“My project concerned a large attic room in a Victorian house. The floor had a horrible old carpet on it when I started.” said Mr CW ” I knew before I started that the gaps in the boards would have to be sealed because the gaps between the floor joists are open to the very well ventilated roof space at the side and the wind comes howling through.”

That is when Mr CW decided to choose DraughtEx, our flexible and no-mess floorboard gap filler. After the sanding of the boards, the gaps were raked out, the floor was painted and then DraughtEx was fitted. Fitting this filler takes very little time and a special applicator makes the task very easy.

Here are the before and after photos of the floor, which is now finished with Farrow and Ball Manor House Grey. Please note that the DraughtEx floor filler is not visible even in the close-up of the newly painted floorboards.

Following the fitting of the DraughtEx the draughts just stopped and the room is now cosy and warm.

Please click the images below

Get a 5% Refund of Your DraughtEx Costs

We have found a way of reducing the costs of our DraughtEx floorboard gap filler to you by sharing your experience with more people. Simply send us pictures of your DraughtEx project, together with a short description of how it was used, and we’ll refund 5% of your costs.

It could be a picture of the room that was insulated, a ‘before and after’ shot of the gaps in your floorboards or a photograph of you doing the work – demonstrating how easy it is! It’s up to you.

Send us as many pictures as you like – we’d love to hear from you. Everybody who sends us something will receive the refund of their DraughtEx costs.

Email us at service@draughtex.co.uk or get in touch through our Facebook page.

DraughtEx Now on Facebook

We are always being asked how to overcome problems encountered by people renovating their floors. So we decided to launch a Facebook page where you can tell us what your problems are and receive advice and suggestions from us and other keen DIY enthusiasts.

Using Facebook in this way can often lead to innovative ways to complete a restoration project or could just give you the support you need at that time to continue with the renovation.

If you have not already joined us on Facebook, make sure you do it today.

Sarah Beeny Puts DraughtEx in Her Scrapbook

What better endorsement could DraughtEx floorboard sealant aspire to than Sarah Beeny featuring it in her More4 Property Season. The show is about giving you tips and tricks to restore your property with a view to increasing its selling potential.

DraughtEx is in her Scrapbook for quick reference as a good and cheap way to eliminate draughts through gaps in floorboards. It is so easy to install even by the most novice DIY person. So not only do you get a warmer house cheaply, you also get the satisfaction that you did it yourself, saving you even more money.

Why hesitate, check what Sarah Beeny has to say about DraughtEx and start ridding your home of unwanted draughts and cold spots.

Some Tips for Renovating Floorboards

Many of our customers use DraughtEx floor gap filler as the finishing touch on a newly renovated wooden floor. Although DraughtEx can also be installed underneath many types of floor coverings such as carpets, most people make use of it to seal the gaps between exposed wooden floorboards.

Polished wooden floorboards provide a beautiful and homely look, however, you need to consider a few points to make sure that the final floor insulation with Draughtex produces the most pleasing results.

Preparation

While Draughtex is very quick and easy to fit, preparation is still important when it comes to stopping draughts between floorboards. You need to clear out the gaps between floorboards with a blunt knife or similar. Be very careful not to damage any cables or pipes underneath the floorboards. While Draughtex is flexible and will form itself around any remaining debris, the best result is achieved if most of the dirt between floorboards is removed. If you are also sealing the gap between the floorboards and the skirting board, remove any rope that might have been used in the past to seal the gap. Again, remove any dirt out of the gap.

After sanding, make sure you vacuum the floorboard and skirting gaps to remove any larger amounts of dust and dirt. This is obviously important anyway for the varnishing of the boards but will also help when fitting the floor gap seal after varnishing.

Applying DraughtEx

Once your floor is varnished and dried, fill your floorboard gaps with DraughtEx. The filler is available in three thicknesses to cover all gap sizes, although the standard size of Draughtex will be suitable for the vast majority of floorboards. The seal is very flexible and can be stretched to fill thinner gaps. Because of its elasticity, DraughtEx will also accommodate any natural movement of the wooden floor.

Start by pushing the end of the Draughtex seal in a floorboard gap underneath the skirting board using a screwdriver or similar. Use the same screwdriver to position the first two inches of Draughtex between the boards. You then tension the Draughtex very slightly with one hand while using the supplied applicator in your other hand to roll down the Draughtex into the gap. The applicator has a ledge that prevents pushing the floorboard seal too deep. When reaching the other end of the room, just cut off with a bit of a surplus which is pushed underneath the skirting board with the screwdriver. When you are filling in thinner gaps, just increase the tension a little bit more.

The specially formulated colour ‘Shadow’ will appear invisible to the eye and will present clean, even looking floorboards floorboards. You can vacuum the floor without risk of pulling out the Draughtex.

Instructional Video

For further fitting instructions see our video on how to fit DraughtEx.

Contact Our Sales Team

Our friendly sales staff will also be happy to give further advice on 0800 088 7311 or through our contact form.

How to Save Energy and Money by Draught Proofing Gaps Between Your Floorboards

DraughtEx not only helps keep your house warm, but can also help you to save money and use less energy.

Unfilled floorboard gaps in a room measuring just 12 x 12ft can add up to a combined exposed area of 3.87 square foot- similar to a small window being left open all day, every day.

By using Draughtex to not only fill gaps between floorboards but also gaps between floorboards and skirting boards to prevent unwanted breezes from entering the home, it is estimated by The Energy Saving Trust that you can save up to £40 per room per year on heating costs. A 12 x 12ft room would on average need only two rolls to insulate the floorboards. Therefore by investing in DraughtEx, you will not only feel the benefit in terms of temperature, but should also see a positive effect on your energy bills which allows you to amortise the cost of the floor filler within approximately one year.

Lower energy usage also means a lower carbon footprint, and each insulated 12 x 12ft room is also estimated to reduce CO2 contribution by around 150kg per year.

Having sold well over twenty thousand rolls of DraughtEx so far, our floorboard gap sealers are currently saving our customers a combined £400,000 per year as well as preventing over 1500 tons of CO2 emissions every year. This energy saving is enough to offset 370 cars worth of CO2 emissions over the same period!

So with winter approaching, now is the time to invest in DraughtEx. It will not only make your house feel warmer, but also help keep energy bills as low as possible through the coldest time of the year. Let us help you to save money and energy.

DraughtEx Can Help Allergy Sufferers

The problem of dust and pollen circulating around the house in summer is well known to allergy sufferers. DraughtEx can help solve this problem by sealing the gaps between your floorboards and stopping the flow of air – therefore restricting the movement of dust and allergens.

Allergy sufferers often avoid having carpets in the house as these are seen as dust traps. Natural wooden floors are an attractive alternative, but can be prone to contraction and expansion with the changing of the seasons. Any increase in the size of the gaps between your floorboards can allow previously trapped dust to circulate more easily.

This is where DraughtEx comes into its own. Being flexible and able to move with the natural ebb and flow of the wood, it provides a year round seal. DraughtEx traps existing dust below the floorboards and allows for more effective cleaning of any new accumulation.

Whilst DraughtEx alone is not a miracle cure for allergies, it can reduce the circulation of dust and therefore help to lessen the symptoms for those who suffer during summertime.

New Gap Sealant for Sash Windows

Following multiple customer suggestions we have taken the idea of the DraughtEx floor filler and developed a similar product for draught-proofing sash windows.
We knew for a long time that DraughtEx is not only good to seal floorboard gaps but also perfect to stop sash window draughts and to fill gaps around distorted windows. However, a few changes had to be made before we could start selling a seal for windows. A colour had to be devised that would suit the majority of sash windows. The two-tone magnolia™ colour has two different tones of magnolia on either side and the customer chooses a side to face towards the inside of the room. Secondly, a different diameter, and elasticity had to be developed to allow the seal to be successfully used in windows. And thirdly, a different applicator was required. All these hurdles are now overcome and the new seal is available.

Gapseal is designed to be installed in sash window gaps before the cold time of the year and can be taken out when the windows need opening again in spring. It can be re-used multiple times as it doesn’t start to deteriorate like scrunched newspaper or other materials.

Please have a look at our website www.gapseal.co.uk for more information and pictures.

It’s Getting Colder!

As we all know and feel autumn is coming around swiftly. The local Garden Center starts to display Christmas decorations and we ask ourselves where this year has disappeared to.

Soon enough warm clothes will have to be dug out and the heating needs to be turned on again. With temperatures dropping outside and the warm air inside floorboard gaps are starting to grow again, letting in cold draughts.

Especially, when it is cold outside the thought of a warm and cosy home is very appealing. Nobody likes to come home to a cold and draughty house.
We have made it our mission to stop gaps between floorboards that let cold draughts invade your rooms.

Many different methods of gap filling have been presented to us since we started dealing in gap insulation. There is the professional way of lifting the floorboards and fitting them together so no gaps are left open. This involves a lot of work and costs. Other methods include mixing your own gap filler from sawdust and glue or even applying papier-mache to floorboard gaps. Both methods are messy and the filler falls out of the floorboard gap after a while.

Why not choose the easy option and use a flexible floorboard gap filler that is cost-effective, easy to use and and will not fall out?

DraughtEx has helped many households to to become warm again. Comments like
“your product is great! I wish I would have found it years ago, its really transformed the look of the boards as well. “
and
“Such a unique, simple, clean, easy, quick solution to the age old problem of draughty floorboards.”
come in time and again and show us that we are on the right way.

How Much DraughtEx Do I Need?

Two factors influence how much DraughtEx you need to fill your floorboard gaps:

- Total length of all your floorboard gaps added together
- The width of your gap

The total length required is quickly worked out. Just multiply the length of one floorboard by the number of floorboards.

Please note that this length is not necessarily equal to the amount of DraughtEx you will actually need. As DraughtEx can be stretched to fit into thinner sections between floorboards when it is applied it can cover a larger area of floor than you would expect it to so you may end with some surplus. We will refund any full rolls you have bought from us.

DraughtEx Calculator

Use our handy calculator to work out how many rolls of DraughtEx to buy.