How to Fix Drafty Doors
Living in the Midwest, you know that weather extremes are the norm. Winters can be brutally cold while summers are usually unbearably hot. Needless to say, drafty doors can be the bane of your existence.
You want to keep your home a comfortable temperature but that becomes a problem when your doors are letting in outside drafts. All of your efforts to make your home more comfortable will cost you extra on your monthly bills.
Stop fighting with your doors and fix the problem. We’ll show you how to prevent drafts from getting through your doors and into your home. Let’s get started.
How to Tell if Drafts Are Getting Into Your Home
Before you can fix a problem, you need to diagnose it. You might be thinking, “How could I not tell that a draft is getting into my home?” Unless you’re looking for it, you might not notice door drafts until it’s too late.
Every year, when you’re winterizing your home, make sure you check your door for drafts. There are a couple of ways you can go about doing this.
The first is called the flame test. All you’ll need to perform this test is a match or lighter. Start by making a flame and moving it along your door. Check the area where the door slab meets the frame as well. If the flame flickers, that means you have a draft getting into your home.
However, if you’re uncomfortable having a flame so close to your door, you can preform the same test with a piece of paper. If the paper waves as you’re moving it around your door, that’s a sign that outside air is getting into your home.
What Causes Door Drafts
There are many reasons drafts can be getting into your home. The most common reason is because your weatherstripping is worn down. This will allow drafts to get in from underneath your door.
Another common problem is if your door isn’t energy efficient. Wood doors aren’t foam insulated like their steel or fiberglass counterparts.
Also, wood doors are known to warp and rot which can create gaps between the slab and the frame. That means outside air has easy access to your home.
Stop Drafts From Getting Into Your Home
It’s time to learn how you can solve your drafty door problems. You need to act fast before the problem gets to a point where it can’t be saved. We have a few solutions for you depending on the source of your problem.
Time for New Weatherstripping
Hopefully, the drafts are getting into your home due to faulty weatherstripping because this has an easy fix. Over time, your weatherstripping wears down from your door constantly opening and closing.
When your weatherstripping wears down, drafts get into your home easily. All you need to do is remove the old weatherstripping and replace it with a new one. You can find weatherstripping at any hardware or department store.
Get a Draft Stopper
You can add extra draft prevention to the bottom of your door with a draft stopper. A draft stopper is a large pillow that lays along the bottom of your door and adds an extra layer of protection from drafts.
While they do work, there are a lot of disadvantages to draft stoppers. The most obvious one is that it’s very inconvenient. Every time you open your door, you need to pick up and move the stopper and once the door is closed, you need to put it back.
Plus, there’s a high probability that someone will trip over it and fall. This is a serious risk to your safety because you can twist an ankle or break a bone from the fall.
Your best bet is to avoid the draft stopper and make sure your weatherstripping can handle the drafts alone. It’s an inconvenient piece that will cause more problems than it solves.
Add a Storm Door to Your Home
An extra layer of protection that you should consider is a storm door. Storm doors are installed on the outside of your entry door and protect it from the elements. Not only that but it adds an extra barrier for drafts to get through in order to get into your home.
Another benefit to storm doors is that most come with bottom sweeps. These are found on the bottom of your storm door and completely cover the gap between the slab and threshold, making it harder for drafts to get into your home.
Feldco offers high quality storm doors to Midwest homeowners. We have many different styles, screen and hardware options available. Also, all of our storm doors are installed by factory trained and certified professionals.
Realign Your Door
After much use, a door may become unaligned from the frame, creating gaps. This is a major problem because drafts will be able to get into your home easily. Thankfully, this problem can be fixed most of the time.
Sometimes, the screws from your hinges can become lose and need to be tightened. Your door may also sag away from the frame. In which case, you’ll want to replace the hinge screws with longer ones.
If your hinges are damaged, replacing them is a great idea. Changing your hinges may play a role in your door gaps. You can read all about the different types of door hinges in this article. It should help you find exactly what you’re looking for.
However, we said that your door can be fixed most of the time. When wood warps and rots, it creates gaps that realigning can’t fix. You’ll need to do something else to solve the problem and there’s only one solution that works.
Replace Your Door
The one surefire way to fix drafty doors is to replace them, especially if you’re having a major problem like wood warping. Replacing your doors also allows you to customize them more to ensure they’re energy efficient and you won’t be feeling any drafts.
We recommend looking for foam insulated doors that are made from steel or fiberglass. The foam makes your door dense and more difficult for air to pass right through it. This makes your door an airtight seal between your home and the outside.
Feldco’s steel and fiberglass doors are the best available in the Midwest. They’re custom made to your exact specifications and will keep drafts outside of your home. Get a free quote now and see why over 500,000 homeowners have trusted us with their home improvement needs.
The Importance of Fixing Drafty Doors
Fixing your drafty doors can make a huge difference in your home. For starters, you know your home will be more comfortable if you’re not allowing drafts inside. You’ll have great control over the temperature inside and won’t have to be battling with the weather.
What you may not know is that you’ll also save money on your energy bills. This is because your furnace and air conditioner will be using more power to keep your home a comfortable temperature. If there are no drafts getting into your home, they’ll need to use less power to reach your desired temperature.
Make Drafty Doors a Thing of the Past
Make drafty doors a thing of the past. Whether it’s getting new weatherstripping or completely replacing your door, you need to do whatever it takes to prevent drafts from getting into your home.
This is especially important during the summer and winter months because temperatures can become unbearable. You’ll end up spending a lot more money on your energy bills just to combat them and make your home more comfortable.
If you need to replace your doors or add a storm door, Feldco is here to help you. We take the hassle out of home improvement and make the entire experience easy and worry-free. Get a free quote now and see why we’re America’s #1 door company.
