Why Replace Your Garage Door Weatherstrip?
An often-ignored energy expense is the garage and the garage door. Many good garage doors have an R-value of 18-20, where high-performance blown-in insulation for your walls has an R-value somewhere between 3.5 and 9. Why do you think they make these garage doors with such a high R-value, which is a rating for the wind resistance and energy savings for insulation? Manufacturers know that much of your home’s energy can flow out that eight to eighteen-foot expanse.
Around Houston, TX, we know the cold days are brutally cold and the hot days can be scorching. When you ignore the garage door weatherstrip, allowing it to crack and separate from the door, you are letting in the hot breezes that tax your air conditioning and cold air that drains your oil tank. Even if your garage is not part of your central heat and air coverage area, doors left harmlessly open between the garage and the home are not that harmless when it comes to your energy bills.
Keeping your garage door weatherstrip functioning properly not only saves you money on energy bills, but it provides protection from the weather for the things you store in your garage. That $30.00 gallon of paint you stored in the garage will dry up and be unusable with too much heat. Boxes of clothing and pictures will mildew. Well, you get the idea, you need to keep a weather-resistant seal to keep your things good as new even in storage.
Expense Versus Savings
The biggest expense involved in replacing the weatherstrip around your garage door is buying the new weatherstrip. Normally this is about $50.00 or $75.00 and if you’re a handyman you can do it yourself in a few hours. Or, just call the Garage Door Doctor and get it done professionally, go watch the baseball game, and know it will be done right. You will spend a little bit more up front, but your family will be more comfortable through the years and you’ll get to see the game.
Garage Door Weatherstrip: The Door Boot
If you can see sunlight at the bottom of your garage door when it’s fully closed, there is also heat going out and cold air coming in through that space. This indicates your garage door weatherstrip boot is damaged. These are easily replaced if you are handy with basic tools.
Just lift the door up to where it is easy to see the door boot, usually eye level is perfect. Then, measure across the boot. These are usually standard size, eight to eighteen feet depending on the size of your door. You can also just slide the old one out and take it with you. After you get the new one just slide the new boot into place. The installation is often the hardest part, so some coat the boot with a petroleum product to make it easier to slide.
However, some older doors have rubber boots screwed directly into the bottom of the door. You can usually just reuse the old screws unless those are rusted or stripped. Dry rot is common with these type boots, so just get a new one every few years and save big on heating and air.
Another method would be to have the professionals at the Doctor’s do a 21-point checkup/tune-up on your garage door, which includes checking your garage door weatherstrip. If it needs replacement they will show you why it needs to be replaced.
Call the Doctor, Today!
To get a professional replacement of your weatherstrip or any emergency repair, you should call the Garage Door Doctor, (281) 578-7659 or 855-9300 and get a FREE appraisal. They will get it done the same day. They also do installations and can replace that old door with a high R-value door that will save you money on your energy bills, year after year. The Garage Door Doctor can answer any questions you may have about your garage door.
