Anyone had any experience with this tool and system for weather stripping doors??
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/knowhow/repair/article/0,16417,698011-2,00.html
I have a job coming up to either replace a poorly sealed door or find a way to seal it better.
Looks like an interesting tool.
Replies
I haven't seen that system/tool before. I also did not read through the website thoroughly.
Before I'd spend the kind of money that such a system probably costs ($200?), I'd try to fix whatever is ailing the door. If it's not sealing, then it is probably not installed correctly. About the only exceptions I can think of are a warped door slab, and a door that is coming apart at the mortises.
Begin by looking at the spaces and reveals all around the dor, on both sides. Then hold a level on the hinge pins, measuring for plumb in two planes (parallel to the wall, and perpendicular to the wall).
If necessary, shim the hinges. If that won't be enough, remove the trim, and re-shim the frame.
Get the installation correct, and the weatherstripping takes care of itself. At the worst, you'll need to remove the existing pieces and replace with new, using the existing slots.
Unless you're the lead dog, the view just never changes.
Don't disagree with anything you said, but as always there is more to the story.
The door is a interior door (originally no weatherstripping) with some pretty average attempts to seal it. It is in between a garage and finished den.
Plan B is to replace it with a good insulated steel door.
The gotcha is that the inside of the room and the door are finished with I guess what I would call barn board. Nicely greyed rough finish pine. The doorway almost blends right into the the wall. If I replace the door it will not be possilbe to salvage the finish boards to recreate the look.
Just looking for alternatives to putting in the door the orginal contractor should have.
That tool is a modified laminate trimmer, and has been around for quite a while. If you can remove the jamb, without too much difficulty, you can cut the slot on a table saw.
If you have a lam. trimmer, or roto-zip, or a small router, you could probably modify the base, yourself.
You can also buy a tubular weatherstrip, without the spline, and glue it in place.
Why do you want to weatherstrip an interior door anyway.
Toolin,
I have the corner groover from Resource Conservation Technology and love it for retrofits. If the stops on your door are applied you can kerf them on a table saw and fit in one of the many weather strips from RCT. They also sell the glue on tube seal that Mike is talking about.
KK