Thursday, December 10, 2020

Poor air sealing around the front door - install weather seal

Front door.
The hinge side (tight fit) and the bottom of the door (threshold seal) keep cold air out pretty well.
But the lock side and top of the door do not...

Gap between the front door and the door jamb.
Can see the light coming through the gap.
Allows cold air flow into the house.


The fact that you can see sunlight along the door jamb shows how the door is not sealed.

You can actually feel the airflow by putting your hand in front of the gap...



There's also a gap at the top of the door.
It's uneven, wider at the RH side, and also allows noticeable amounts of airflow in.

Decided to try this bulb-type stick on weather seal.
Based on some measurements, the gap should be able to be taken up by this "bulb" seal (similar to automotive seals).


This product comes as a double seal (side by side).
I need it to be a single bulb width, so I simply cut it down the middle using some scissors.

 First, the door frame/jamb area where the weather seal will be placed needs to be thoroughly cleaned to get rid of all dirt/dust.
This is before cleaning...

After cleaning.

Applied the first strip on the side of the door jamb perpendicular to the door edge (the surface on the right).
This picture is showing the "side" of the strip.

Then the second strip went on the surface 90 degrees from the first strip.
This strip would get compressed from the door's outside surface.

Went all the way top to bottom.

Then, two strips along the top, arranged 90 degrees from each other, similar to the side.

Just ran out of the weather strip material.  I needed another 20 inches or so.
But, even with what I have, it should seal out most of the draft...

After the seal application, can't see light through the door jamb anymore & can't feel airflow either.
Done...

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