My entryway door leaks cold air like a bandit, I need to add some weatherstipping.
What goes on easy and works at least for a year? If possible I’d like it to go on the door and not the frame since the door will be replaced later when I build a custom door for the entry.The doorframe however, stays..
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Hard to beat those aluminum strips with vinyl bulb on them. The go up quick, and are cheap. They work great for old doors with uneven faces. The kind with little screws are better than those that come with nails. The ones with slots for the fasteners [instead of holes] are better because they can be adjusted.
For your new custom door, consider silicone seals (or similar) from Resource Conservation Technology.
http://www.conservationtechnology.com/
silicone is the way to go no matter what. It has a much lager thermal range and is very compliant. You can get silicone bulb in a bunch of different dia. to suit your needs. Vinal is way too stiff in my opinoin. Once you get all the vinal insalled you will find it a lot more difficult to close the door. I second the resorce conservation suggestion. They are a great source for all kinds of energy saving products
First look at adjusting your door so that it fit's tighter in the "hole". Many times you can adjusts the strike (s), hinges, etc, and sometimes the threshold to tighten things up. Sometimes putting thin cardboard shims behind the hinges can help if the door needs to be moved toward the strike a little, or rotated a bit toward or away from the threshold. Most modern exterior doors have replaceable weatherstripping too.
Mat,
The difficulty is that I am using a stand size door in a custom made frame. Ultimately I will be building a custom door to fit the frame but for right now I'm using a standard size door and by adding spacers it more or less fits the frame without looking too stupid... That's why I want to put the seal on the door rather than the more common method of putting it in the frame.
There is no way that just shimming it would work, I'd need over a 1/4 inch shim all of the way around..
Run a thick bead of silicone caulk on the door, where you want the weatherstrip.
Cover it with saran wrap. Tape the saran wrap down.
Now, carefully close the door, so that it is entirely closed, but don't push it up against the jamb. Leave it sit until the caulk sets up. Remove the saran wrap after a couple days.
Your door should now seal tightly when you close it.
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Hey, I like that. now that's a solution worth remebering!! I'll do it !