Repairs · London
Garage Door Perimeter Weatherstrip
The bedroom over the garage is always the cold room, and standing in the garage you can feel why: a steady draft along the door edges that moves the cobwebs on the wall.
In plain words
Perimeter seal comes in two common forms, and the visit begins by deciding which suits your opening. The simpler is a flexible vinyl fin nailed to the face of the existing wood stop, which works well where the stop is sound. The other is a one-piece vinyl stop moulding with the fin built in, which replaces the wood stop altogether and suits jambs that are weathered or where the old stop is cracked and paint-heavy. Commercial doors sometimes carry an aluminum retainer with a replaceable rubber insert. Each is cut to your header and sides on site and set against the closed door.
How the visit goesA length of weatherstrip along the right jamb has pulled away, nails and all, and it slaps against the trim every time the wind picks up. The wood behind it is dark and soft where it meets the floor.
Garage Door Perimeter Weatherstrip
How the visit goes
What has been getting in, and what the garage is for
A short conversation shapes the rest of the visit. Is the garage attached and heated, or a detached shell? Has snow, water, leaves or an animal been coming in, and where? Is the door used several times a day or once a week? Was the door itself replaced or adjusted recently? A heated garage under a bedroom justifies a full one-piece stop and careful corners; a detached garage used for storage may want a straightforward fin replacement. Knowing what the household has noticed also tells the technician which side to test first and whether a section of jamb has been wet for a long time.
The header piece goes on first
With the door closed, the header length is cut to the full width of the opening and lifted into place, a two-person job on a double door. It is positioned so its fin lies against the top section with a slight, even deflection along the whole width, then fastened from the centre outward with galvanized or stainless nails or exterior screws at regular spacing, which keeps the length straight rather than letting it wander. The ends are left to receive the side pieces beneath them. Fitting the header first means both sides are cut to meet it exactly, and the corners close properly.
Slush, salt and the bottom of the jambs
The lowest part of each jamb is where the weather does its work, so a little attention there protects the whole seal. Push slush away from the jambs when clearing the driveway rather than piling it against them, and rinse the salt off the bottom of the stop on a mild day. Keep the joint between the jamb and the sill caulked so meltwater runs off the face instead of behind it. If a section of jamb was replaced, keep its paint or PVC surface intact. A dry jamb base holds its fasteners, and fasteners that hold keep the seal tight.
Garage Door Perimeter Weatherstrip
In the van
Aluminum retainer and rubber insert
Flat bar, hammer and nail set
Epoxy consolidant and exterior primer
Utility knife and mitre saw
Jamb repair lumber or PVC trim
Garage Door Perimeter Weatherstrip
What affects the quote
Doing the bottom seal at the same time
When the bottom seal on the door is also worn, renewing it during the same visit is offered as a separate line and saves the cost of a second call.
Partial replacement
Replacing one damaged length rather than all three is a smaller job, provided the remaining pieces are still soft and the profile can be matched.
Condition of the jambs
Soft or rotten wood at the base of a jamb is cut out and spliced with new lumber or PVC trim before the seal goes on, and that repair is quoted as its own item.
What to have ready
- What colour is the trim around the door?
- Where do you see daylight, drafts or snow: sides, top, or corners?
- Is the wood around the opening soft or rotten near the floor?
Garage Door Perimeter Weatherstrip: questions
QuestionsWhat colours does perimeter weatherstrip come in?
Standard ranges cover white, almond, brown, grey, black and a sandstone or clay tone, which between them match most trim, garage door and brickmould colours. The technician brings the colour that suits your trim once you describe it or send a photo. A one-piece vinyl stop is coloured through, so it does not show scratches, and a fin on a painted wood stop can be matched to the paint.
My door was replaced last year. Does the perimeter seal need doing too?
Often, yes. A new door is sometimes fitted against the original wood stop and its old fin, and the new door may sit slightly differently in the opening, so the old seal no longer meets it. If daylight shows at the edges or the fin is hard and cracked, a new seal set against the new door completes the installation and matches the fresh look of the door.
How can I tell the side and top seal needs replacing?
Close the door, turn off the garage lights and look along the edges for daylight. Then press the fin with a thumb: it should be soft and spring back. Hardness, cracks, pieces missing, a strip hanging loose, snow or leaves inside along the edge, or a fin that has folded under and torn are all signs. A rubbing squeal as the door moves is another.
Related services
- Garage Door Tune-UpSince the first cold snap the door has been sluggish.
- Off-Track Garage Door ResetThe morning after a thaw the opener groaned, the door stayed stuck to the icy floor for a second, then lurched up crooked.
- Garage Door Panel ReplacementRust has crept along the bottom edge of the lowest section.