Weather seals do not last forever on your doors. With time, they can rip, compress, bend, or just wear out. This will allow cool winter air to enter or your air-conditioned air to escape in summer. Luckily, sealing a doorway is a fairly straight forward DIY project. And of course, it is much less expensive than putting up a new door.
Even a small gap can be enough to cause a problem so you want to fix it as soon as you can. All a well-sealed door requires is some weatherstripping (covers the sides and top of the door) and a sweep (fills the space between the threshold and the door bottom).
Though there are an array of products available for sealing a doorway, many professionals like a system that includes tubular silicone weatherstripping and a twin-fin silicone sweep that fits under the door. Silicone is a good choice because it is both durable and soft and it has no compression memory. That means that it will stay tight as the door swells and shrinks. Explore this easy to follow guide to weatherstripping a door.
1. Measure the gap
Measure the gap that is between the door and the jamb and the door and the stop when the door is closed. Measure along both the side jambs and the head jamb. Choose weatherstripping that is big enough to fill the largest gap.
2. Cut a groove
Smooth out the stop and the jamb by pulling a paint scraper along them. Make sure the surfaces are free of any protruding nails or other debris.
Use a grooving tool and put the V-shaped base of it into the corner formed by the jamb and the stop and point the bit up. With the motor on, push the tool up to the head jamb. This will create the slot for the weatherstripping. Repeat the same process on the opposite side.
You can clean out any wood chips or debris left behind with a flat head screwdriver.
3. Insert the weatherstripping
Push the barbed tongue of the weatherstripping into one end of your slot. Work the stripping up the slot being careful not to stretch it. When you a couple of inches from the end of the slot, gauge the length of your weatherstripping and trim it with a pair of scissors. You do not need to miter the ends of the weatherstripping as a butt joint will give you the best seal.
Use a spine roller to push the weatherstripping into the slot. You can check your installation by closing the door from the outside and looking for any gaps.
4. Rout the dado
You need to seal the door bottom as well. Place the door on sawhorses and with a square, mark out a 5/8 inch wide dado in the center at the bottom edge of the door. Set your router’s guide so that a ½ inch bit will cut next to the top mark when the guide is resting on the door’s top face.
The first time, move the router from left to right. The second time, the guide will ride on the door’s opposite side and the router will move from right to left. Pass the router back and forth multiple times until you reach a depth of 1 1/8 inch.
5. Attach the channel
The exposed wood in the dado should be primed and painted at this point. Next, cut the sweep’s two aluminum channels about 1/8 inch smaller than the width of the door. This will allow room for the end caps later. To get a clean cut, clamp the channels in a miter box and use a hacksaw with a waxed blade. Put one channel into the dado and center it end to end before screwing it in place.
6. Install sweep
Fit the black silicone sweep into the free channel and then slide the glides into the channel I the dado. Hang the door up before installing the sweep to avoid any damage to the sweep. Make adjustments to the glides until you cannot see any light between the threshold and the sweep when the door is closed. Snap plastic caps into the ends of the channel and put squares of adhesive-backed pile against the bottom of the jambs.
7. Adjust the glides
The glides are the secret to the sweep’s adjustability. They allow the sweep to lift or lower by about ¼ inch. Open the door to adjust the fit. Remove the end cap of the latch slide and slide out the sweep. Turn the glides clockwise to raise the sweep and counter-clockwise to lower it and then slide the glides back into the attached channel.
If you would like more information on sealing a doorway so that they are not letting air in or out, contact the professionals at Real Seal for the best professional advice.
