Day 26 – Weatherstrip Your Garage Doors
Do you have a garage? Are your garage doors insulated or weather stripped? Or do you have big gaps in the sides like this:
If you don’t have weather stripping on your garage doors, you could be throwing away money on heating spaces above and/or next to your garage. Not to mention, making it uncomfortably cold for any of us Handy Peeps who work in the garage.
Day 26 – Weatherstrip Your Garage Doors
In an hour you can seal the gaps around your garage door. This could make a huge difference in the temperature of your garage. And you could improve the temperature in adjacent rooms. After installing the weather stripping we noticed a huge difference in the temperature of our bonus room that sits on top of the garage.
A Garage Door Side and Top Weather-strip Kit
Use the nails included in the kit to secure the garage door seal against your doors.
For a time saving tip and more detailed directions you can follow my full tutorial for installing garage door weatherstripping.
These were the resulting temperature shifts after I installed the weather stripping on our garage doors:
Before Weather Stripping:
| Outside Temperature | Inside Garage Temperature | Temperature Difference |
| 45˚F | 55˚F | 10 degrees |
| 30˚F | 45˚F | 15 degrees |
After Weather Stripping:
| Outside Temperature | Inside Garage Temperature | Temperature Difference |
| 45˚F | 65˚F | 20 degrees |
| 30˚F | 58˚F | 28 degrees |
Go ahead and seal those gaps and enjoy a warmer garage and home this winter.
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This is such a relatively easy fix, but it’s something that I’ve never thought to do! I have a very old (and drafty) house with original windows and casings, so I’ve addressed those, but I never thought to address the garage door. I’m going to have to give it a go. Our house gets so cold in the winter, so if we achieve the same results you did, I will be a very happy lady.
As a side note, your doors themselves are beautiful!
Brittany, I received and installed the weather stripping for sliding doors and it is AWESOME! Thank you SO much for the tip and link! The company is also absolutely delightful.
Happy creating,
Christina
PS also ordered an electric staple/nail gun from Harbor Freight… can’t wait for it to get here. lol
What about the bottom, where the garage door meet the garage floor? I have about a 6 foot section where the floor just isn’t level. The rest of the garage door fits fine. Is this something to worry about? Can I even fix just the 6 feet? I’m unable to take on any large projects health wise. So here’s hoping…. I’m glad I found your site. I wish I had your tools!
Cheryl, yes, there are two products you can use. One nails to the bottom of the door and the other sits on the floor: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000052036/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000052036&linkCode=as2&tag=prett041-20&linkId=I5TXXHOVVVDS4SFC
and http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001JDCUSM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001JDCUSM&linkCode=as2&tag=prett041-20&linkId=SIJNQ4LP5TG2W3AJ
How did you know I have to do a weekend workshop at my Home Depot on weatherizing and weather stripping next month?…You must have ESP….spooky…thanks for the tip, AGAIN!
Awesome Nancy! That’s a great workshop theme for this time of year.
I have weatherstripping around my garage door but it is mildewed and nasty. I would love to remove and replace it. Is it easy to remove? If I replace it, do you have any good ideas for keeping it from mildewing again? Thanks for all your tips! You make it all look so simple.
Denise, the weatherstripping is easy to remove. The nails…not so easy. But, you can just pound the nails in and cover them with new weatherstripping if you want to take a shortcut.
Oh how I love this tip. Just the thing we need to do! Thanks so much!
Brittany, I am really enjoying these tips… and your whole blog! This garage door tip is, I hope, adaptable to sealing the gap in my apartment sliding glass doors. Windy winter days send the very cold air sailing through the gap between the double pane sliding doors.
I’m also thinking about using some pipe insulation to fill in the gaps around the window (or wall in my apartment’s case) air conditioning unit. The foam in there presently is less than adequate. I’d like to avoid encasing the entire inside portion in plastic like I did last year.
Thanks again… you inspired my creative wheels to turn!
Christina, I found a great article for you that should help: https://weatherizing-insulation.knoji.com/keep-your-patio-doors-draft-free-this-winter/
Also, this product looks similar to the garage door weatherstripping but is made for sliding glass doors: http://www.moorepet.com/Draft-Sealer-for-Sliding-Glass-Doors-p/sb-draft-sealer-ppd.htm
Finally, buying lined curtains or thermal curtains and closing them at night can really help trap the draft.
Great tip, it’s easy to forget little things like this and they can really add to your heating bills.