Fall is an excellent time to ready your home for the upcoming winter weather. Wondering how to start winterizing a house? The first step would be checking your weather stripping to ensure your home is properly protected for the icy winds that are just around the corner. By ensuring you have closed any leaks with weather stripping you can help lower your energy costs this winter.

So what is weather stripping exactly? Weather stripping is the process of sealing openings, such as doors or windows, from outside elements. Weather stripping can also be used to refer to the materials or product used to provide these seals. Weather stripping seals out water or snow along with the cold air and allows you to keep the heated air inside your home.

You can visually inspect the front door weather stripping or the weatherseal around the windows, but there are a couple of ways to test the sealing capability of these seals. On a windy day you can close all your doors and windows and check the seal by feeling around the edges of them to see if you feel any wind coming into your home. A visual check is an even better indicator. Using something that creates smoke, such as an incense stick, you can move the stick around the edges of all doors and windows. If the smoke trail is anything other than vertical you have an air leak.

When applying weather stripping be sure to consult the items packaging for specific instructions, but we have a few general guidelines to keep in mind.

There are a number of different types of weather stripping that are required for different applications. There is V-channel (V-strip/Tension seal), which can be used on the sides of double hung windows or sliding windows or the top or sides of a door. Felt can be used around a door or window sash or in a doorjamb. Foam tape is used for the top and bottom of a window sash, around doorframes, or for attic hatches or inoperable windows. And a door sweep is used at the bottom and the interior side of a door.

Winterizing your home by making sure your windows have proper weather stripping can help lower your heating bill by keeping heated air from escaping out or allowing cold air to enter your home. When applying weatherseal to windows you want to ensure that the weather stripping does not interfere with the operation of the window.

You should ensure that exterior door weatherstriping covers the entire doorjamb, uses one continuous strip along each side, and verify that the weather stripping meets tightly at all corners. Choose appropriate door sweeps and weatherseal thresholds for the bottom of doors. You should choose a thickness that creates a good seal between the door and doorjamb but does not make the door difficult to shut. Because of the continuous rubbing on flooring you should pay careful attention to door bottom weather stripping to ensure that it is still in good condition and providing a good seal. A good door seal provided by adequate door weather stripping can help lower your energy costs by preventing cold air from entering your home and heated air from escaping.

An area that is often overlooked when you winterize your home is your garage doors. A tight seal on the garage door bottom weather stripping can help keep both cold air and snow or rain out of your garage. This step is especially important if you have a garage that is heated, this will help keep the heat in and can aid in lowering your heating bill. Replacing a garage door bottom weather seal can be a bit tricky, so the professionals at Door Systems are available to handle this step of winterizing, call us today!

Some homeowners may be ready to tackle the step of winterizing a house by replacing weather stripping, but many people do not have the tools, skills or knowledge, or even the time to take on this task. Door Systems, Inc specializes in every aspect of service and installation of exterior doors, windows, and garage doors. Call us today to discuss your weather stripping needs!

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