Weatherstripping Exterior Doors
You might wonder if weatherstripping is really necessary. After all, you don’t see any large gaps around your doors.
But consider that a tiny 1/8-inch gap around a typical entryway door is the equivalent of drilling a 5 ½-inch-diameter hole through an outside wall, that might change your mind. Any well-sealed door requires two components: weatherstripping, which covers the sides and top of the door, and a sweep, which fills the space between the threshold and the door bottom.
Closing those gaps can save you up to 15 percent in heating and cooling costs and also can reduce the demand on your heating and cooling system.
Best news though, it is an easy project that you can tackle and finish in a single day.
Installing a Door Sweep
1) Cut the sweep to fit the width of the door.
2) With the door closed, screw the sweep to the door so that its bottom is in contact with the floor.
You can also go around the doors with a self-adhesive foam weatherstipping barrier. You would apply this around the top and sides of the door. This type is not as effective as the tubular vinyl with a flange that are tacked along the inside of the jamb. The self adhesive type tends to come off.
Not matter which kind of weatherstriping you choose, you want to make sure that the door compresses the weatherstripping, but that it is also able to close properly. You want the fit to be tight, not sticky.
