Winterizing doors is really sort of a misnomer. What you’re actually doing is weatherizing your door. Weatherizing your door saves on your energy costs, makes your house a lot more comfortable and, in the most general sense, helps keep the outside conditions at bay. Whether its rain, snow, or anything else, a properly weatherized door goes a long way toward keeping your house cozy as opposed to drafty, chilly or even too hot in the summer.
Many people decide to check their door to see whether it is weatherized at the beginning of the winter, and doing it around the same time every year is actually a good way to remember to pay attention to how well your door is holding up against the elements.
Basic Check
The first thing you should do is check to see if there are any drafts around your door. If your door is badly in need of weatherization, you may have noticed these without even making a deliberate check. If the area around your door always seems chilly during cold weather, it’s a very good sign that there’s a lot of cold air seeping in somewhere around the door.
If you’re not sure, one of the easiest ways to check is to take a candle and move it along the edges of the door. The flame should remain steady. Any areas where the flame begins to flicker indicates that there is air leaking through.
During the day, you can visually inspect the door by looking at where it joins with the doorframe and seeing if you can see any light leaking through.
Any sort of a gap needs to be taken care of. Ideally, your door should make a very tight seal that keeps out any airflow. Any gap prevents this from happening and means that you are not getting the best possible results out of your door and that you may be paying too much for heating and cooling.
door weatherization graphic
Have a Pro Look
When you do see gaps, most homeowners, if they have any do-it-yourself spirit, will look at the weather stripping. This can be the problem sometimes and, if weather-stripping is worn or tattered, it should be replaced.
Professionals, however, will oftentimes apply more advanced weatherization techniques, as weather-stripping repair jobs will quite often fail to solve the entire problem. In some cases, the hinges on the door might need to be adjusted to allow for a proper seal. The strike plates may need to be adjusted and, in some cases, the threshold has to be replaced, as well.
Even if you’re very careful about your house, doors do get a lot of use, they get slammed occasionally and sometimes they just need to be adjusted a bit. Professionals can get a worn door working like new by making adjustments, in some cases.
The professionals can also very quickly and reliably replace weather-stripping and door bottoms. Even though some of these are oftentimes taken up as DIY projects, professionals do know how to handle these jobs and get much better results than the average homeowner would.
Weatherizing a door usually doesn’t take long and, as long as a professional is handling it, the results make it well worth the expense. Winter is the perfect time to examine your doors and, if your house feels like it’s not as comfortable as it should be, look at your entryways as possible areas where there may be problems.
Even doors that have bad drafts can usually be repaired and, if you’ve been putting up with it thinking there’s nothing you can do, Doors of Elegance can remedy this situation with our Weatherproofing Service. Our skilled technicians can get your ready for winter in no time at all. Call today for more information, (504) 887-5440.