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Weather Stripping - Doors
November 9, 2013 |
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When I worked on my doors, as part
of my ongoing
door
project, I had removed some of the
old metal weather stripping that was around the
frame of the doors. The old stripping was damaged in
some areas, was ugly in some, and it was just easier
to paint the frame without the stripping.
As a result of removing the old weather stripping, there is
air seeping in around the edges of some of my doors.
With a
swamp
(evaporative) cooler in the summer, this
was not a problem because you need to have windows
open anyways for the cooler to work properly.
During the winter, it becomes a problem with cold
air blowing in. |
Light
coming out of door gaps |
The door of this house, that has the biggest problem
with air coming in, is the front door. I
had removed ALL of the old stripping on this door frame.
The door is slightly warped and had too much wood
shaved off the upper door knob side of the door by
the previous owners. The air is also seeping in
at the top of the door.
Photo on the left shows the area where cold
air is seeping in at the front door. Note
the big gap where the light is.
I had already installed a new threshold when
I painted the door and worked on the entire
front entrance. The seal at the
bottom of the door was good.
I did not want to put that ugly metal stripping on
again. I also did
not want the stick-on weather stripping. It only
lasts a few years here in El Paso and looks tacky. So I looked at
other options.
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The weather
stripping that I found, that best fits my door and
looked a little more classy than metal strips or
stick-on stripping, was
compression weather stripping.
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MD Compression Weatherstrip with Aluminum
Stop |
The product I found on the internet
was the MD Compression Weatherstrip with
Aluminum Stop kit. The kit comes with
1 - 36" piece for the top of the door, and 2
- 84" pieces for the sides. Screws are also
included.
I would have preferred a color that matched
the paint, but they only have white or
bronze. So I went with the bronze
color that matches my door hardware.
This product is available at hardware
stores, online, or directly from the
manufacturer,
M-D Building Products in large
quantities. The best price I found was
online (Nov 3, 2013)
from
Global Industrial at $19.25 per kit +
shipping. I ordered 4 kits, for my 4
doors. With shipping, it came out to
$105.72. The item was shipped directly
from the manufacturer in Oklahoma. |
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UPDATE - April 2014
- Global Industries no longer carries this
product. (Or perhaps they only carry it
seasonally.) I could not find it on their
website. I needed to buy two more kits
for my
backyard tool shed project. I
ordered the two additional kits for $34.00
each on Amazon from a company called "Home
Efficiency Products". The two kits arrived
within 5 days. Packaging was done
poorly. It was only wrapped in paper
and the kits were bent a bit in the
middle, from poor handling during shipping.
They also used USPS which in El Paso, TX is
problematic. I frequently receive
items in awful condition with the post
office here. Weather stripping should
have been packaged in packing tubes because
it is long and easily bent. |
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The way
this weather stripping works is simple. You
mount it onto the door stop with screws.
The vinyl piece that compresses when the
door is closed, blocks the air.
The screw hole in the aluminum allows for a
little adjustment left or right before the
final tightening of the screws.
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How the
weather stripping works |
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I went online to to view videos
on weather strip installation to see if there were
any tips or tricks for this type of installation.
Most videos had the top piece being installed first,
then the sides. This manufacturer says to do
the sides first, then the top. The exact
instructions given on the product packaging are: |
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INSTALLATION |
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1. |
Kit
installs on door stop. Measure distance
between threshold and top of door along door
stop. Cut both strips to length. Cut with
hacksaw or scissors. |
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2. |
With
door closed place one long strip on door
stop along hinge side. Install with
fasteners so foam strip compresses lightly
against the door. Install other long strip
on latch side. |
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3. |
Cut short strip and
install along top door stop so it fits
snugly against strips mounted on sides to
prevent leakage at corners. Install with
fasteners included. |
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These instruction are clear
enough. Perhaps a little over simplified. I will
follow the order of strip placement recommended by
the manufacturer. I will add some tips below.
Here are the tools and materials I used for this
task: |
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-
Measuring tape |
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- Pencil |
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Painters tape or masking tape |
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- Hacksaw |
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Cutting knife with sharp blade |
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- Awl or
drill - to make starter holes for screws |
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- Metal
file - to file down rough edges on metal |
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- Hammer
- if using awl |
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-
Phillips screw driver |
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- Spray
or canned paint for touch-ups |
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- Q-tips
if you use spray paint |
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STEP ONE -- Measure the
two sides of the door frame. Measure on the door
stop from the top of the
door threshold to the top of the door frame.
Tip 1 - Measure each side
of the door separately. The measurements will
probably be different. The hinge side of
my door frame was 78 1/8" and the latch side of my door
frame was 78 1/4" |
STEP
TWO -- transfer measurements to first
piece of long weather stripping with pencil.
Tip 2 - Use a piece of painters tape to mark
the edge of where the cut will be.
Place the tape on the side that will NOT
be thrown away. It
will help protect the finish from your
hacksaw and guide your cut. After
placing the
tape on, re-check your measurements again
before cutting.
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Tape placed on
weather stripping to guide hacksaw cut and
protect finish |
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Holes made in
door stop for the weather stripping screws |
STEP
THREE -- Cut the metal with your
hacksaw.
Tip
3 - When you get to the vinyl, cut it with
your knife. The cut will be smoother.
Use your metal file to smooth out the cut
aluminum edge.
STEP FOUR -- Place the weather strip
against the door stop and close the door.
Adjust the weather stripping against the
door so the vinyl compresses. Mark
with your pencil where each hole will be.
Move the weather strip away from the door
stop and open door. With an awl and
hammer tap in your screw starter holes where you
made your pencil marks.
Place the
weather strip back in place on the door stop
and put screws in, leaving them loose.
When done, close the door. Now make
final adjustments to the weather strip
placement and tighten all of the screws.
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Repeat STEPS ONE - FOUR for the other side
of the door. |
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Weather
stripping installed on both sides of the
door |
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In the
photo on the right you can see where I
angled the latch side of the weather
stripping more to the inside along the top.
This is to compensate for the door that is
warped at the top and does not hit flush
against the door stop.
STEP FIVE -- Measure the top of the
door stop between the two side pieces of
weather stripping you just installed.
For my door, the measurement was 35".
The short metal piece of weather stripping
in the kit is 36". Therefore, I will
need to remove 1".
Now look closely at this piece of weather
stripping in the picture below. If I
cut the inch off of one side, I will be
cutting off a screw hole on one end.
Without a hole on the end, the weather
stripping will not be firmly in place.
So in this case, I will need to make two
cuts to remove 1/2" on each end so
I will have a screw hole on the very edge of
both sides. |
Weather strip angled
inward at the top to compensate for the warped door |
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Short weather
stripping piece against measuring tape showing
position of holes |
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STEP
SIX -- Mark and cut equal amounts from
each end of the short weather stripping
piece.
Tip 4
- You will need to miter the cut on both
ends to get the piece to fit tightly in the
corners. See photo at left.
To do this, I made the straight cut first,
and then cut a 45% angle on the raised
aluminum part of the stripping. There
was some fine tuning with the metal file to
get the piece to fit exactly.
Repeat STEP FOUR to attach the top
piece of weather stripping to the door stop. |
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Top piece of weather
stripping installed |
STEP SEVEN -- Touch-up any
parts of weather stripping or door stop where paint
was nicked.
Tip 5 - If you only have
spray paint (I used an oil rubbed bronze color),
spray the paint on the end of a Q-tip in an
open outdoor area
and then dab the paint on quickly before it dries.
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Outside of
the door after weather stripping was
installed |
Door now
passes the light test |
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Except for the top piece, the
weather stripping was relatively easy to install.
Does it keep the cool air out of the house?
Yes, it does! Does the door now pass the light
test? See for yourself above.
One down, three more doors to go......
The only possible problem I can see with this
weather stripping are the dogs, if they decide to
take an interest in it and chew on it. |
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