Perimeter Weatherstripping

The Three Gaps People Forget

Most people replace a bottom seal, find the garage is still draughty, and conclude that sealing a garage is hopeless. It is not. There are three other gaps.

Down Each Side

Weatherstripping fixed to the jamb on either side of the opening, with a flexible flap that presses against the face of the door.

This is the most commonly missing seal on an older garage. It gets torn off during a repaint, painted solid so it no longer flexes, or was simply never replaced when the door was.

Along the Top

A strip fixed to the header that meets the top section when the door closes. Often the source of a draught nobody can locate, and on a windy elevation it is also where wind-driven rain gets in.

Worth noting for a separate reason: the gap along the top is the one a wire can be pushed through to hook the emergency release cord from outside. Sealing it does not fix that on its own, but it is a good moment to look at whether your release can be reached.

Between the Panels

A sectional door articulates at every joint, and each joint has a rubber seal that flexes as it does. Over years those crack.

If you stand inside a closed garage in daylight and see horizontal lines of light across the door, that is what you are looking at.

Doing It Properly

We check all four seals together, because fixing one and leaving the others is why people conclude sealing does not work. Usually the bottom and one other is enough to transform a garage.

We also check the door is closing square. A door running slightly out of true will not meet its side stripping evenly no matter how new the rubber is, and that is an alignment job rather than a sealing one.

If the Garage Is a Room

For a converted garage used as a gym, office or workshop, the perimeter matters more than insulation does. An insulated door with an open perimeter is a poor investment, and sealing costs a fraction of the price.

Seal first, then decide whether insulation is still worth adding.

Call Dakotasungardenswinery at (562) 354-2964.