Posted November 4th, 2011 at 9:16 am by Dan Musick
When you buy garage door weatherstripping this winter season, beware of these common error issues en route to your purchase:
1. Not buying enough weatherstripping for your door’s height or width.
It is best to over-order a little than to undershoot. For example, with bottom inserts, you may need one-foot more than the width of your door to have enough to fold over and re-insert into the channel to ensure a snug fit that will not shift from side to side. Also, make sure that you have thick enough product to cover all the potential gaps. Conduct a visual inspection of your door’s sealable area, and take measurements. See #7 below for tips on this.
2. Failing to order the corresponding sizes of inserts for retainers.
For top and side garage door weatherstripping, the standard retainer that you buy goes with the standard inserts, and the large retainer goes with the large inserts.
3. Ordering non-matching inserts for your retainer type
The Bottom “T” U-shaped astragal goes with bottom retainer with double, 1/4″ “T” shaped channels. Bead shaped astragal goes with bead retainers. Certain door makes such as Wayne Dalton have their own “D” shape style ends. On the other hand, Clopay door often uses a connection where both ends of the insert fit into a single groove, with the insert material shaped like the picture below. Single “T” shaped retainers take bulb seal (pictured above), which flattens from an “O” shape to form the seal.
4. Ordering commercial product for a residential application and vice versa.
2″ PVC stop molding is the most popular residential top and side seal. We carry several colors and two shades of brown. (Call us in any case you want brown PVC). The commercial product commonly mounts to an angle located on the inside of the door, and hence the word “angle” comes in with the commercial top and side seals.
5. Ordering seal with inserts.
If you order a “bottom seal,” you have the surface for fastening to the door, and the rubber or vinyl seal as well. Also, it is not necessary to order inserts if you have a bottom seal product.
6. Not ordering appropriate width of a bottom insert
If your door is 2″ thick, you’d be best off with 4″ wide insert. If 1 3/8″ thick, go with 3″. The general rule of thumb is at least 2x the door’s width for the insert width.
7. Underestimating the level of weather sealing needed for your climate and conditions
Synthetic rubber products are generally better for sealing and durability than vinyl. Extremely cold, coastal, and storm-prone regions need special care and high-durability products. In addition, if you have any doubt about a particular product’s coverage area take pictures of the area(s) needed to seal, and include tape measure readings in the pic. Often, narrative content helps too. Tell us about your total door area, and the thickness of the door, jamb and header material, and any other details, and feel free to contact us. We will review the situation and make recommendations as necessary.
In any case, DDM Garage Doors aims to put the right products in our customers’ hands the first time, at a great price, leading to energy savings and peace of mind about the garage door this winter and always!
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