PLAYING DRAUGHTS

All my life I have lived in houses which were old,with the exception of a short stay in a modern bungalow which I disliked intensely. Making the choice to live in an old property means coming to terms with the quirks, and oddities which all properties of character seem to have in spades. Along with the feature fireplaces, mullioned windows and original doors and windows come the original draughts, these are a force to be reckoned with to be sure.

Some friends of ours purchased a lovely old place and were delighted to find beneath layers of carpet oak floor boards of considerable age. Afire with the zeal one can only acquire by watching makeover shows the couple hired them to a tool hire company and returned to there new abode with a huge sanding machine.

Words of advice and even stark warnings as to the possible folly of entering upon such a course without proper research went in one ear and out the other as throughout the bank holiday weekend they scoured the old floor boards without mercy until not a trace of old paint or varnish remained.

Staining and varnishing came next, and the choosing of a fabulous rug, a feature rug, so much nicer than fitted carpets they told all comers. When finished it did look splendid with it's shaggy terracotta rug, so cosy we were told,this was in August and the weather was hot.

We next visited our friends on Christmas Eve, a huge log fire burned in the picturesque fire grate, the cosy terracotta rug was now keeping company with a pair of splendid conker brown heavy velvet curtains and the whole effect was wonderfully snug and cosy. Our friends we noticed were wearing thick sweaters and even thicker woolly socks, we sat huddled around the fire chatting as the candle flames guttered in some of the wickedest draughts I have ever encountered.

I was glad when it was time to leave, my feet were numb and it took hours to thaw them out on our return home. So what had caused the great gale which blew through their living room bringing down the Christmas cards from the mantle piece faster than they could be put back again? It was of course the gaps between the floor boards.

The old boards had obviously been sanded many times and the heavy duty bashing thay were given by our friends was, it seems the last straw. It had left the boards not only thin but with large gaps between the planks. It had been decided that caulking would spoil the natural beauty of the wood ,and well it might, still I think I would have preferred a tasteful fitted carpet and a cosy room to the glossy oak floor boards and Arctic gear. No one said we told you so when some weeks later an attractive fitted carped appeared and the terracotta rug made a short appearance on eBay.

We fight a constant battle at the cottage against draughts,each year we try new methods of excluding them, mostly to no avail. In the winter we rearrange furniture in all the rooms so as to avoid these cold spots, we survive. I am, after all these years used to draughts and certainly I prefer them to being hermetically sealed in by double glazing. Thick curtains help a lot and when then east wind is really bad - I recommend cotton wool in the ears!