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Home » energy conservation » Installing Weatherstripping on a Garage Door Really Warms Up the Workshop

Installing Weatherstripping on a Garage Door Really Warms Up the Workshop

January 16, 2012 Brittany Bailey 46 Comments

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install weather stripping garage door

Last year I froze my handy buns off working in the garage. (This year they returned after eating loads of Christmas cookies! Ugh.) In all seriousness, while searching for bigger and more powerful heaters it occurred to me that I might want to try weatherstripping my garage doors.

seal garage door

When you have garage doors with no weatherstripping, you might have a gap as big as your hand!  Can you imagine? That is 68 linear feet (2 doors) of cold air rushing in. This is the equivalent of all the windows in your house being cracked open an inch. You’d never dream of doing that in the winter, and yet that was the situation in our garage.

Weatherstripping garage doors is a very easy DIY task that shouldn’t take more than an hour. Buy neoprene rubber stripping from your local hardware store or home improvement warehouse. (I purchased the Garage Door Side and Top Weather-strip Kit by Frost King for under $20.)  The rewards of this project are that you can take your garage from an icebox to comfortably cool in less than 60 minutes!

Here are my unscientific results of the temperatures in our garage before and after weatherstripping.

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

I was so thrilled by the difference it made that I knew I wanted to share the tutorial with y’all. But, sadly I didn’t take any photos. So, I asked my friend, Holly (the one with the adorable house that has loads of character and charm), if I could help her install some on her doors. Luckily I didn’t have to twist her arm too much. Here is how we did it (the super quick way, but not necessarily the “correct” way.)

Weatherstripping Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

weather stripping seal garage door tools

  • Frost King Weatherstripping for Sides and Top of Garage Doors
  • Hammer
  • Air Compressor and brad nailer
  • U-shaped staples for nailer
  • Ear protection
  • Safety glasses
  • Scissors

Open the package of weatherstripping and remove the bag of nails included. Put on your hearing protection and safety glasses.

garage door sealing weather strip

Unroll the weather stripping and pull the end up to the top of the garage door on one side. The short side of the foam strip should be against the frame of the door, and the longer side should be pressed lightly against the garage door.garage door weather proofing

Nail one nail into the frame of the door to hold the stripping in place.

weather stripping garage door

(Here is where we cheated.) Instead of using only nails, use the brad nailer to attach “U” shaped staples into the weather stripping. After every 4th staple, hammer another nail into the frame. By using mostly staples we were able to cut down significantly on the install time. Be sure to start and end with a nail.

applying weather strip to garage door

At the bottom of the door, trim the weatherstripping at an angle as shown. We left a longer tail on the door frame side to close up the gap under the door frame.

garage door weather stripping corners

Continue attaching weather stripping along the top of the door. Alternate between hammering a nail and then four staples.

weather stripping garage door top

When you reach the sides, cut your weather stripping so that it meets the side pieces. Do not let the weatherstripping overlap or it will create a gap.

cut garage weather stripping to exact fit

Repeat for the second garage door (if you have two.)

after garage weather stripping applied

Here are a few other bonus features of the weatherstripping:

  • Quieter. Which means I can get away with using power tools a little later at night.
  • The bonus room above the garage stays warmer. Before it was always chilly up there.
  • Less critters. Since installing the weatherstripping I’ve seen a lot fewer spiders and centipedes.
  • Now when I use the space heater, I can bump up the temperature in the garage by a few degrees per hour. Before the weatherstripping, the space heater really didn’t warm the garage because all the heat was being lost out the sides of the doors.
  • Do I even have to say it? Energy savings! We don’t have to pay as much to heat the bonus room. And I don’t spend hours running the space heater.

I should note that our garage has insulation in the walls. If yours doesn’t, you may not notice as big a difference as I did.

I’d love to hear from you if you tackle this easy project and if you notice a huge change in temperature in your garage too. I can’t tell you how excited I am with the results. I can continue to work in my garage/workshop in comfort through the winter now!garage door weather stripping tutorial

 

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energy conservation, Home & Auto Maintenance, weatherstripping

Comments

  1. Kat says

    December 9, 2013 at 5:59 pm

    Do you have to use an air compressor and brad nailer for this project?

    Reply
  2. Amanda Tempel says

    October 23, 2012 at 10:53 am

    This is an awesome idea. Do you think you’ll ever do a tutorial on how to put weather stripping along the bottom of a garage? We have a really large garage – Probably about 15 foot in length. Only 2 feet of the weather stripping is missing, but they’re saying we’d have to have the whole thing replaced, and it would cost several hundred dollars.

    I’m looking for an alternative for doing it myself. Where, it will be cheaper, and maybe I can even do just 2 feet, rather than 15.

    Reply
    • Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl) says

      October 23, 2012 at 9:34 pm

      Amanda, weather stripping the bottom is easy ;-). You can buy the kind that literally lays on the floor of your garage. It is a rubber piece. Or nail rubber weather stripping to the bottom of the garage door. You local hardware store can help you pick one out and give tips for installing it.

      Reply
  3. Denise says

    June 20, 2012 at 7:28 pm

    Nice idea. I did that too and it definitely increased livability in my garage because it is already an energy efficient garage or workspace. I was also able to save money and lower my utility bills because of it.

    Reply
  4. Eric says

    February 1, 2012 at 12:50 pm

    This is one of the best descriptions (photos, etc.) of a DIY project I’ve seen online. Way to go! Clopay Garage Doors salutes you and wishes great DIY luck to your dedicated readers 🙂

    Reply
  5. Michelle (@The236) says

    January 19, 2012 at 9:52 am

    My hubby just bought a propane heater for our garage. We live in the Great White North (ahhh…Canada….) and we have very, very cold winters. The heater helps, but unfortunately our garage is not insulated. So while the heater helps, it’s not the best solution, since all of that heat escapes. I’d like to look into insulating our garage and I will definitely be adding some weather stripping. Thanks for the great tutorial!

    Reply
    • Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl) says

      January 19, 2012 at 10:29 am

      Michelle, REALLY? I’d think you Canadians would be all about the weatherstripping. Get busy on this, it will help a lot!

      Reply
  6. Noel says

    January 17, 2012 at 2:29 am

    Dear Pretty Handy Girl,

    You really inspire me with your home maintenance skills updates, so practical, especially in this economy! I have a question: Are you familiar with bathroom vent fan maintenance? My cousins just had a house fire that originated in a bathroom exhaust, and I can’t find much comprehensive info ion this maintenance topic online.

    Noel

    Reply
  7. nanci says

    January 16, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    Sounds like a winner…but I don’t have a white frame on the outside around my garage doors and it would look tacky and dorky to have that going around my trim. Can it not be tacked to the inside of the frame?

    Reply
    • Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl) says

      January 16, 2012 at 11:04 pm

      I’m pretty sure they sell the weatherstripping in black and brown as well. I’m not sure how you would install it inside the frame?

      Reply
  8. Kristy says

    January 16, 2012 at 6:40 pm

    OMGsh!! We are SO doing this!! Thanks Brittany!! You rock, girl! 🙂

    Reply
  9. Jan @SouthernJunkin' says

    January 16, 2012 at 5:45 pm

    Great tips! Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply
  10. Angela says

    January 16, 2012 at 3:28 pm

    I noticed that it was installed on the frame of the door rather than the door itself. Do your garage doors roll up into the garage? And does it all stay in place with the door likely sliding up against it?

    We are also in Florida, and we are going to be insulating the inside of the garage door itself to cut down on the heat in the Summer, but this looks like a great idea too!

    Reply
    • Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl) says

      January 16, 2012 at 3:39 pm

      Angela, you are correct, the side and top weatherstripping needs to be attached to the frame rather than the door so the door can raise and lower on its track. The stripping just lightly presses into the door. The track of your door is likely at a very slight angle so the door pulls away from the frame as it raises.

      The weatherstripping on the bottom is usually attached to the bottom of the door itself. Does that help?

      Reply
      • Angela says

        January 17, 2012 at 8:13 am

        Yes! Thank you so much. We are going to weatherstrip ours this weekend!

  11. Shelly says

    January 16, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    Another great tutorial. Perfect fitted corners! I think our garage would warm up a lot if I replace the 2 broken windows (soccer ball incidents) -I refuse to do it on my own though. I will only replace the windows by walking each son through the process. They might need to do so on their own home some day. 🙂

    Reply
    • Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl) says

      January 16, 2012 at 3:36 pm

      Shelly, definitely get some help on that one. My son snuck colored applesauce into his closet and ended up spilling it. It sat there unnoticed for days. Needless to say it left a stain. That same son has been learning ALL about stain removal and how to use the steam cleaner!!!

      Reply
  12. [email protected] says

    January 16, 2012 at 10:24 am

    Thanks for the handy tips! I will definitely look into this.

    Reply
  13. Susie E says

    January 16, 2012 at 9:06 am

    I’ve been wanting to weatherstrip my garage door, too. But I was concerned about additional drag on the garage door opener. Did you have any problems with that?

    Reply
    • Susie E says

      January 16, 2012 at 1:42 pm

      OK, I’m going for it. But I just bought a package of this stuff, and it says to nail long side on the facing, and I see that you nailed the short side to the facing (which looks like it makes more sense). Did you intentionally go “off label” on your installation to get a better seal?

      Reply
      • Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl) says

        January 16, 2012 at 2:12 pm

        Well, maybe I read the instructions wrong ;-). Anyway, I installed it the same way on both our garages and it worked well with the long side out (unfastened.)

  14. Andrea says

    January 16, 2012 at 7:34 am

    I have been considering applying the commercially available insulation panels to our garage doors to keep the garage temp down, especially in our Florida summers. I’m not sure if they are as helpful for the cold, though. The weather stripping is a great idea.

    Reply
    • Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl) says

      January 16, 2012 at 3:35 pm

      Andrea, I thought about installing that too. I haven’t found the perfect product yet, but when I do I’ll blog about it ;-). BTW, insulation is for cold or hot, it basically creates a barrier between the indoors and out.

      Reply
      • BF says

        January 24, 2012 at 4:22 pm

        What you want is rigid foam insulation ( kindof like this: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/building-materials/insulation/super-tuff-r/1-38-in-4-x-8-polyisocyanurate-rigid-foam-insulation-66394.html). Thickness depends on your garage door. I just used calking glue to glue it to the inside of the door. Helps tremendously..

  15. Bev says

    January 16, 2012 at 7:11 am

    The ‘critter factor’ alone makes this a worthwhile project.

    What a great idea. I don’t know why I never thought of this. My sewing room is right above the garage and it’s the hottest room in the summer and coldest in the winter. Well, hello! Of course.

    Thanks for enlightening me!

    Reply
    • Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl) says

      January 16, 2012 at 3:33 pm

      No doubt! I don’t mind a few spiders to chomp some mosquitos, but I don’t like the ones that surprise me from my wood pile.

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Brittany aka Pretty Handy Girl. I like the smell of coffee and sawdust in the morning. I live to break stereotypes and empower you to take on your own DIY project.

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