A garage door is one of your house’s most significant access points. Therefore, keep it well sealed if you want to protect your house from the elements, rodents, pests, or any other unwelcome environmental factors.
Sealing your garage door properly also helps save energy; therefore budget-friendly. Usually, every garage door comes with its weatherstripping. However, the weatherstripping wears out over time and needs to be replaced.
Ultimately, weatherstripping your garage door gives you the peace of mind that no pests or elements (or even burglars, for that matter) can get into your house.
Table of Contents
What is Weatherstripping?
Weatherstripping is the perfect solution to sealing off moving parts of your house, such as doors and windows. It keeps pests and elements out and makes your house more energy-efficient too.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, you can save up to 283 dollars yearly simply by weatherstripping your garage door and windows.
The weatherstripping under your door generates an airtight seal against your garage floor. This helps keep your Garage Warm In The Winters and cool in the summer.
The most obvious sign of a damaged seal is water leaking into your garage through weatherstripping. If not replaced, it will wear down more and more over time. Eventually, the gap will be big enough for rodents and bugs to make their way through. Therefore, you must attend to such a matter with urgency.
Benefits Of Sealing Your Garage Door
1. Protects from flooding and water
Even the slightest bit of water leaks can cause large-scale damage before comprehending what happened. In case of a damaged seal, water will seep through beneath the door, causing damage to any water-sensitive stuff on the ground.
Once the water evaporates, it will damage electronics in its struggle to escape. The condensation can collect around windows, promoting the growth of mold.
Having a layer of weatherstripping under your garage door will seal it thoroughly, keeping your garage safe from any water that tries seeping in.
2. Reduces energy costs and improves insulation
Hot air in the summers and cold air in the winters can seep through damaged parts of your weatherstripping. This forces your cooling and heating systems to work harder to maintain temperatures. Ultimately, this leads to increased energy costs too.
You might even have to spend money on maintaining the cooling and heating systems since they will turn on and off frequently in the struggle to maintain constant temperatures.
Once you have a tightly placed weatherstripping, you will no longer have to worry about drafts from outside affecting your home’s internal temperatures. Eventually, you will notice the reduction in energy expenditure and costs.
3. It keeps rodents and bugs out
If you notice rodents such as rats and mice in your garage, the weatherstripping might be blamed. Vermin can squeeze through even the tiniest of cracks and invade your home. Once through the garage door, they can quickly get into the entire house.
What’s even worse is that rodents and bugs are quick breeders. They start in small numbers but multiply so quickly that it’s difficult to see them coming. They can carry fleas and various diseases into your home as well.
4. Reduced garage door damage
Strong weatherstripping means that your garage door will need fewer repairs than you might encounter without sufficient sealing. The weatherstripping acts as a barrier against anything that threatens the garage door or its mechanisms.
It even acts as a padded cushion to prevent the door from slamming shut should any of its mechanisms fail due to other reasons. In short, if you seal your garage door, you will promote its health and longevity.
Is It Necessary To Call A Professional To Seal Your Garage Door?
Applying weatherstripping to your garage door requires exact measurements and good-quality materials. The precision should not be taken lightly, as even a slight inch provides enough space for all intruders to make their way through.
The materials should be top-notch to ensure the seal doesn’t wear off quickly over time.
Therefore, keeping all these things in mind, one should always opt for a professional for this task. They have the knowledge and skill to execute this task with perfection.
How Long Does Weatherstripping Last?
V-shaped neoprene rubber strips are excellent at keeping dirt, vermin, and water out. However, they begin to dry up and crack over time.
Likewise, U-shaped rubber/vinyl tracks dry and crack up with time.
Other factors affecting the lifespan of your weatherstripping include location, weather conditions, and climate. It may die out even sooner than expected in case of significant temperature fluctuations.
On average, weatherstripping lasts two years with the usual wear and tear.
Bottom Line
If you’ve been thinking about changing your garage door’s weatherstripping recently and want to know if it is the right time, you have come to the right place. This article covers all instances when you should replace your weatherstripping and its benefits.
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