Follies are romantic buildings, and romance gets expensive in winter. A tower, a grotto, a sham ruin or a small temple at the end of the lawn is usually unheated, frequently overlooked, and built with more enthusiasm than waterproofing. Left to itself from October to March, it will quietly take on water, freeze, thaw, and begin shedding mortar, render and paint.
The reassuring part is that most winter damage is avoidable with an hour or two of work at the right moment. Below is a month-by-month routine for a British winter: what to do, when to do it, and when to leave well alone.
October: The Last Good Working Weekend
Get the outside jobs done while your hands are still warm and the mortar is still workable. Gutters first — a blocked hopper is the most common cause of damp in a small garden building, and it is a ten-minute fix in October and a ruined plaster ceiling in January.
Then, roughly in this order:
- Clear gutters, hoppers and downpipes, and check that the water lands somewhere useful — a soakaway, a drain, or at least a gravel-filled channel — rather than against the plinth.
- Inspect the roof from ground level with binoculars. Slipped slates, lifting lead, cracked ridge tiles and missing mortar on hips are all cheaper to sort now than after a gale.
- Check the ground. Paving and soil should fall away from the walls, not towards them. Where they don't, lift a course or two of paving and re-lay it; a couple of centimetres of fall makes a remarkable difference over a winter.
- Cut back climbers, ivy, bramble and overhanging branches. Growth that touches the walls holds water against the masonry and gives the wind something to pull at.
- Empty the interior. Cushions, books, rugs, tools and anything made of timber or textile come out, or go up — onto pallets or shelves, never flat on a damp floor.
- Clear airbricks and vents of cobwebs, nests and the odd wedged newspaper. Ventilation is your cheapest damp-proofing.
If repointing is on your list, autumn is a good window for lime mortar work, which wants a run of mild, dry days — broadly, above 5°C with no frost in the forecast. If that window has closed, wait until spring rather than risk a frost-damaged joint.
November: Water, Wind and the First Frosts
Drain anything that holds water. Fountains, rills, lead cisterns and garden taps should be emptied and, where possible, isolated at the stopcock. A trapped pocket of water splitting a lead pipe or cracking a stone bowl is a needlessly expensive way to start December.
Then walk round with a notebook and check everything the wind can grab: finials, weathervanes, gates, shutters, ridge tiles, hanging brackets, window catches. A hinge that has worked loose over summer becomes a split frame the first time a gust catches an open door. Lag exposed pipework, and lift terracotta pots onto feet or into shelter — wet compost freezing solid will crack a pot as surely as a hammer.
December: Ventilation, Condensation and Snow
Instinct says seal the building up. Resist it. Cold, unheated structures suffer most from condensation, and traditional materials — brick, stone, lime, timber — cope with moisture far better when they are allowed to breathe.
Never wrap masonry or carved detail in plastic sheeting or a non-breathable tarpaulin. It traps water against the surface, and frost then does the rest.
If you must shelter a delicate detail, use something breathable and leave the bottom open. When snow comes, clear it from roofs, ledges and cornices with a soft broom on a pole, working upwards. Don't chip at ice with a spade or a hammer; sharp sand or a sand-and-grit mix is kinder to stone steps than rock salt, which also kills moss and plants at the base of the walls.
January: What to Leave Alone in Deep Winter
January is for watching, not building. Repointing, limewashing, painting, timber treatment and pressure-washing all need temperatures and drying conditions you rarely get in a hard frost, and doing them anyway usually means redoing them in spring.
After Every Storm, in Order
- Roof and ridges: scan for slipped slates, missing mortar and displaced flashings.
- Gutters and downpipes: clear leaves and check for splits at the joints.
- Walls: look for new cracks, bulges or damp patches, especially under sills and around lintels.
- Openings: check that doors and windows still close, and that shutters are secure.
- Ground: confirm water is still running away from the building rather than pooling at the base.
Photograph anything that looks different from last month. A dated set of pictures is the simplest way to tell slow movement from a trick of the light.
February: Storms, Trees and Tidying
February tends to deliver the worst of the wind-driven rain, so check the windward faces for water tracking in around sills, plinths and window reveals. This is also your last comfortable window for tree work — cut back branches that overhang the roof before the nesting season, and remember that active birds' nests are protected by law, so take advice if you are unsure. While the ground is soft, clear gullies and channels, and pull dead leaves out of the corners where damp lingers.
March: Repairs and the Year Ahead
Once you get a stretch of mild, dry days, the real repair season opens. Repoint with lime where the original mortar was lime, matched in strength and colour; cement-rich mortar is harder than the brick or stone around it and can trap moisture, so it is rarely the right answer on historic fabric. Treat timber in dry, ventilated conditions, and paint only when the manufacturer's temperature guidance is comfortably met.
Doors that have swollen tight over winter usually free themselves as they dry, so resist the urge to force or plane them while they are still damp. Take off temporary covers gently, brush algae from paths and steps with a stiff broom, and write down what needs doing next autumn while you can still remember it.
When to Call Someone In
Hairline cracks in render are usually seasonal movement and no cause for alarm. Wider cracks, stepped cracking through brickwork, a bulging wall, a sagging lintel or a roof that has visibly dropped are different matters — ask a structural engineer or a conservation-accredited surveyor to look before you patch anything.
If the folly is listed, or sits in a conservation area, repairs of the wrong kind can do long-term harm and may need consent; your local authority's conservation officer is the person to ask before work begins. For anything involving historic fabric, lead, lime or structural movement, professional advice is money well spent.
Photo: SHOX ART / Pexels
