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 weatherstrip my garage doors first.
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
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.)
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.)
- 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.
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.
Nail one nail into the frame of the door to hold the stripping in place.
(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.
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.
Continue attaching weather stripping along the top of the door. Alternate between hammering a nail and then four staples.
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.
Repeat for the second garage door (if you have two.)
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!
PHG – Thanks so much for this post. I bet I’ve walked past this exact weather stripping a thousand times at the various hardware stores. After seeing your walkthrough, I’m really looking forward to this project!
Jake, it is still one of the best DIY projects I did in our garage. I especially appreciate it during this crazy winter storm weather.
Nice article………Thanks for sharing
Adding weather stripping to the outside of the garage didn’t even occur to me. Thanks for the detailed instructions. Love your emails Brittany.
You’re welcome. glad you are enjoying the series.
I love reading your blogs and practical information for women out there. Being in the insulation business all my life, I am happy to see good tips for women to do on their own. Nothing feels better than taking care of yourself!
I appreciate your guidelines. It’s nice information for us.That post was so helpful. I had no idea what brads were until you clarified. I would love to get one, but am wondering how loud it is. I live in a condo on the top floor so my neighbors may not appreciate my DIYing. Where do you typically do your projects?Click here
Hi – this tutorial is great – thank you! We purchased on older home (in a very cold climate) with a wooden garage door that needed some attention to keep the elements out of the garage as much as possible. When I landed on your page I learned exactly what to order for the sides of the garage door based on the photos you posted. I ordered a dark brown version that has faux woodgrain embossed on the wider portion, which is made of a fairly rigid plastic. The shorter side is made from a more flexible material. So, I did follow the package instruction that said to place the (more flexible) shorter side brushing against the door. The rigid side is nailed to the adjacent frame board. The rigid part was a pain to cut – I used tin snips. And I had to make a cutout around the door opener keypad. Your suggestion to leave an angled tail at the base of each side was very helpful. I finished installation using brown nails, a hammer, and elbow grease (I counted that as an arm workout for the day, lol.) I got too close the edge with one nail and caused a small crack, and I had to pull out a few nails when I some knots, so I used some clear caulk and touch up paint on those blemishes and all is well. We are very happy with the result and since I could do it myself, my husband was able to work on another project. Thank you!!! I’ll be leafing through more of your how-to’s for sure!
I have found all of this reading on garage door weather stripping informative and interesting. Here’s my question. Hubby already replaced the strip at the base of the garage door. However, I’ve noticed for some time there can be light coming in from the outside through the side gaps of the garage door. Thus the door is not tightly sealed. Is this normal? I live in a suburb of Chicago and our winters can definitely get cold. Welcome your thoughts………
Wow! Totally crazy that this popped up in my Pinterest feed today. I was actually thinking about how to do this to help keep critters out this morning, but I hadn’t had a chance to look it up yet. I will be working on this in the next week two. Thanks!
Enjoy your garage once it’s done because you’ll definitely see less critters and feel warmer.
Well I am certainly going to try this.. it may help some.. But with my garage door not hung straight and the previous owners did not maintenance on the bottom seal.. I am faced with a bent door at the bottom which rocks.. could be because when they put in the drive the made a “hump: in the center where it meets the garage.. but either way it does not close.. properly .. I probably should just have a new door installed. but goodness..can we say CHA CHING!
Thank-you for sharing and providing this tutorial! Let’s hope it will keep more stink bugs out, too! Will be putting this project on my spring to-do list.