Making a Draught Excluder for Old Cottage Doors

Why old cottage doors are so hard to seal

If you live in an older rural property, you will know the feeling: a north-easterly wind comes off the moor, and somewhere near the bottom of the door there is a thin, cold blade of air cutting across the flagstones. Timber doors in country cottages have usually been through a great deal. They have swollen and shrunk through decades of damp winters and dry summers, been planed down, re-hung and sometimes dropped a little on hinges that have carried the weight of a century of gales.

That is why a rigid brush strip or a foam seal often disappoints. The gap beneath a cottage door is rarely a neat, even line. It might be 4mm at the handle side and 18mm at the hinge, then open up further where the flagstones slope towards a drain. A soft, weighted fabric tube is far more forgiving. It presses down into the hollows, bridges the high spots, and can be made to the exact length and thickness your particular doorway demands.

As well as warmth, it earns its keep in other ways. A good excluder keeps out wind-driven grit, leaves, and the fine dust that seems to settle on everything in moorland properties. It also makes a cold hall feel considerably less hostile first thing in the morning.

Choosing and preparing the fabric

Leftover upholstery material is ideal. Heavyweight wool, linen union, corduroy, velvet, tweed and canvas all have the density you need, and they look right in a country hallway. Aim for a tight weave rather than anything loose and open, as the filling will eventually work its way through.

Two pieces of housekeeping before you cut. First, check that the fabric can be pressed with a hot iron and a damp cloth, or pre-shrink it in a cool wash if the care label allows. Nothing is more annoying than a draught excluder that shrinks after its first clean. Second, measure properly. A tube of roughly 10–12cm diameter suits most cottage doors. To work out the fabric width, multiply the diameter by three and add 3cm for the seam allowance — so a 12cm tube needs a strip about 42cm wide.

For length, measure the full width of the doorway and add 15cm, which allows for the tapered ends described below.

What you will need

• A strip of upholstery fabric, cut to the measurements above
• Calico, old sheeting or curtain lining for an inner liner bag
• Strong polyester thread, or upholstery thread if the fabric is thick
• A size 90/14 or 100/16 machine needle, or a strong hand-sewing needle and thimble
• Kiln-dried sand, aquarium gravel or plastic pellets for weight
• Shredded fabric offcuts, old tights or polyester toy stuffing for bulk
• A funnel, or a short length of plastic drainpipe
• Pins, scissors, a tape measure and an iron

Sewing the outer cover

Fold the fabric right sides together along its length and pin the long edge. Sew with a 1.5cm seam, backstitching firmly at both ends. Press the seam open, then turn the tube the right way out — a wooden spoon handle helps here.

Now shape the ends. Rather than leaving them blunt, taper each one over the last 10cm so the tube slopes gently downwards and tucks itself under the door instead of sitting proud of it. Sew across each tapered end, then turn a neat hem and stitch again for strength. If your floor is stone or slate, add a small fabric loop or tab at each end; dragging a heavy tube across flagstones is much easier with something to hold.

Make the liner next. Cut and sew a second, slightly narrower tube from calico or old sheeting, leaving one end open. This holds the filling, keeps the outer cover clean, and means you can slip the cover off and wash it without emptying the whole thing.

Filling and weighting it properly

This is where many homemade excluders go wrong. Filling a metre-long tube solidly with sand produces something close to 12kg — far too heavy to move comfortably, and hard on the fabric seams. Bulk is what seals the gap; weight merely keeps the tube in place.

• Half-fill the liner with shredded fabric, chopped-up tights or toy stuffing to give body.
• Add around 500g to 1kg of kiln-dried sand or aquarium gravel at each end, knotted into small separate bags of their own so it cannot migrate into the middle.
• Leave the tube slightly underfilled so it sits flat and squashy rather than rolling away from the door.
• Stitch the liner closed, then slip it into the cover and hand-sew the final opening.

A word of rural caution: avoid rice, dried beans or lentils. In the countryside they are an open invitation to mice, who will chew through upholstery fabric with impressive speed to reach them.

Fitting it to the door and keeping it working

Push the excluder against the base of the door with your foot, then close the door onto it so it compresses slightly. If the door still rattles in the wind, the gap is probably too wide for fabric alone — in that case fit a hardwood threshold strip or a screw-on brush seal first, and use the tube as the final layer of defence.

Once a fortnight, shake it out and vacuum the cover, and wash it two or three times a year. Check the ends for wear where they rub against the frame. A well-made excluder, treated kindly, will last many seasons and pay for itself in the first cold snap.