Finally decided to do something about my exterior doors lack of adequate weatherstripping. I was tired of the lost heat, the stupid rice filled draft stops in front of the doors, and the ugliness of the current solution. I found this video from TOH on youtube and decided to use the same company for my doors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjmTlWE-6h8
http://www.conservationtechnology.com/
I have 3 exterior doors, and the cost of materials and tool rental was ~300 (tool rental was $70). The main door we use has a threshold that is lower than the interior sweep of the door due to many layers of vinyl tile so we had to use an automatic door bottom system that automatically lowers when the door is shut and raises once you open the door. The other two doors have a threshold higher than the interior so we used their normal double seal solution. All of the doors had a recess routered out with a spiral upcut bit in my plunge router. I also pre-grooved with my circular saw before I used the router to minimize stress on the router, and also to find an errant nails that may be present.
Prior to ordering the silicone weather bulbs that go on the sides and top of the door jam, measure all of the gaps so you have a pretty good estimate of the amount needed. I found the easiest way to measure the gaps was using some brass setup bars that I shoved into the gaps of the closed door. I marked along the jam in pencil the size of the gap and where it started/ended.
Ok so you've measured everything, you have the materials for the sides of the door. Follow the instructions in their downloadable PDF file for their corner grooving machine to get the bit depth setup correctly. Place the tool into the corner of your door jamb and start cutting the groove into your jamb. You'll have to switch the direction of tool to complete each side, try to maintain the same angle and place the bit into the previous made groove as close as possible to the uncut wood to minimize a groove that is too big for the tube corner seal to fit tightly into. Clean out all of the sawdust in the newly made groove and press into place the appropriate sizes corner seal. On a several sided of my doors I had to have 3 diff size corner seals. No worries just cut a half inch off of the barb on the smaller tube seal and slide it into the next size tube seal that is being used for a seamless fit. Then press into place with their corner rolling tool ($20 well spent).
Colonial Revival Western MA
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- Knows the back streets
- Posts: 88
- Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 4:31 am
- Location: Western MA
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- Knows the back streets
- Posts: 88
- Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 4:31 am
- Location: Western MA
Re: Colonial Revival Western MA
So their automatic door bottoming door seal is pretty sweet. There is a fair bit of play so you can really dial it in using the two screws along the side. One controls how much the seal drops when the door is closed. The other angles the entire seal to account for uneven thresholds. There are 3 channels, I chose to use the outside two for my weatherseals.
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Definitely happy with the results, the corner tube seals blend in with the surrounding jamb so it doesn't stand out.
Lessons Learned:
-Once you figure out the biggest size you need order every other smaller size. I skipped a couple of sizes and my front door is a little difficult to shut which means I'll be ordering more corner tube seal in the missing sizes to make it easier to operate.
-Just like any project order 20% extra to account for error.
- Read the directions in their PDF. I didn't do such a great job of this. On the 1st bottom weatherstripping I put into the door I tried to slide it through which is 100% wrong. I probably spent 90 min doing this before I heeded my wife's advice and called the company.
-Double check your measurements when routing the grooves in the bottom of the doors. On my automatic door bottoming seal I added when I should have subtracted which led to me having to add a strip of wood in my groove.
Hopefully this encourages other people to take this project on. It wasn't terribly hard and definitely better than what you'll find at the big box store.
.
Definitely happy with the results, the corner tube seals blend in with the surrounding jamb so it doesn't stand out.
Lessons Learned:
-Once you figure out the biggest size you need order every other smaller size. I skipped a couple of sizes and my front door is a little difficult to shut which means I'll be ordering more corner tube seal in the missing sizes to make it easier to operate.
-Just like any project order 20% extra to account for error.
- Read the directions in their PDF. I didn't do such a great job of this. On the 1st bottom weatherstripping I put into the door I tried to slide it through which is 100% wrong. I probably spent 90 min doing this before I heeded my wife's advice and called the company.
-Double check your measurements when routing the grooves in the bottom of the doors. On my automatic door bottoming seal I added when I should have subtracted which led to me having to add a strip of wood in my groove.
Hopefully this encourages other people to take this project on. It wasn't terribly hard and definitely better than what you'll find at the big box store.
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