A garage is an extension of your home, meaning if you lose heat through it, your energy usage is significantly affected. Moisture and rodents can enter through your garage door leading to rot, mold, and damage to property.

With a few changes, all these problems could become a thing of the past and ensure your home is safe, warm, and dry.

1. Door insulation

Doors, like walls, also require insulation because their size is almost the size of a wall. Insulation is the best way to mitigate heat loss through your garage and ensure the temperature within your home is comfortable.

You need to either install insulation on the current garage door or upgrade a previously insulated door.

To insulate an existing door, you can use foam boards, insulation panels or batt insulation.

Inquire from an expert on the best option for your door and region climate.

2. Panel Stripping

Most garage doors are made in a modern roll-up style that constitutes horizontal panels with a small gap.

This gap may be unnoticeable when the door is closed, but it acts as an entry point for moisture.

A V-shaped panel weatherstrip is used to seal off any gaps between the door panels. This is useful, especially in old wood doors whose panels have flat edges.

For new metal doors, interlocking edges are installed to inhibit the entry of air.

The weatherstrip is sold in rolls and can easily be attached to the bottom edge or top of each door panel.

When you close doors, the panels constrict the weatherstrip creating a helpful seal.

3. Weatherstripping

Moisture and wind can also seep into your home through the edges of your garage door. Weatherstripping is a method of sealing a garage door that entails the addition or replacement of the bottom door seal. It is also done to seal the garage door sides and top by adding the seal onto the wood door stop molding that is fastened to the door jamb to make it almost touch the front of the door.

To make your door as airtight as possible, you can choose to add thin weatherstripping between your garage door panels. 

The weather shipping is usually made from vinyl or rubber. It comes in rolls and should be cut to the desired length with a knife and installed using aluminum nails. The flange of the weather stripping on the door side should be gently pressed against the door to ensure the seal fits properly and seals off the gaps completely.

Check this too: Garage Door Not Opening But Motor Running: Causes and Fixes

4. A vinyl door stop with weatherstrip

This method is great for doors whose door stops are either rotted, old, or damaged and need replacing.

The door stop is designed to have a wood look molding strip and has a flexible seal flange. It should be cut using a saw and installed with galvanized siding nails.

For installation, each piece should be positioned parallel to the door-face. Once done, the molding can be pushed in the direction of the door. Ensure that the weatherstrip flange is compressed against the door, then attach the molding to the garage door jamb using nails. 

It’s advisable to start installing the molding from the top over to the side stops.

5. Perimeter seals

This entails sealing the edges and bottom of the door with rubber strips. You can use a brush strip to substitute rubber.

Once the strips become damaged, you should replace them by pulling them out of the channel and replacing them with new strips cut to the same length as the damaged ones. 

If your strips have been fixed with nails, remove them gently and replace the damaged strip.

6. Garage door bottom seal

This is a garage door seal strip made from vinyl or rubber attached to the edge of your door’s bottom.

The strip constricts when the door is closed, sealing the gap at the bottom of the floor to bar the entry of dirt, water, cold breeze, and other elements.

Your door seal is damaged if rays of light are visible at the bottom of the door when it’s closed. At this point, the seal needs replacing.

For a wooden door, use a stripped seal whose edges are angled to be able to seal the front of the door as well as the floor. Use aluminum roofing nails to install the strips against the door.

For a metal door, use the channel on your door’s bottom made from aluminum. Ensure it holds a U- shaped rubber gasket or astragal seal. The gasket should slide into the two small tracks found on the channel to ensure proper installation.

You can also use a metal gasket on a wooden door.

U-shaped gaskets are easy to install and come in various sizes to seal off gaps of different heights. They are, therefore, an easy solution if you have large gaps caused by cracked or sunken garage floors.

7. Threshold Seal

This works as a garage door bottom seal for uneven floors. A threshold seal is a rubber seal attached to your garage floor at the place where the door rests when it’s closed.

This seal is combined with weather stripping above to protect a waterproof and airtight seal against elements.

• They can be used to seal off large gaps at the bottom of the floor.
• A threshold seal made from vinyl lasts longer than a door seal.
• It should be attached with the adhesive that comes packaged with the seal.

It keeps water from coming in and going out and makes cleaning your garage cumbersome. This means you cannot hose down your garage or sweep off the dirt.

8. Automatic Openers

You may often forget to close the door giving entry to elements into your garage and subsequently your home.

Installing a modern automatic opener could help solve this problem. This works well with an auto-close. Your automatic opener should be equipped with a timer set to a specific time limit that the door should automatically close after opening.

9. Remote Monitoring

This is a method used to confirm if the garage door is closed. It incorporates the use of a smart garage feature or a smart home.

You can monitor by using a smart app installed on your smartphone.

How to seal off your garage

You will need the following items:

• A floor seal
• A door bottom seal
• A brush strip seal. Select one option from these three
• Door top seal
• Rubber adhesive
• Weatherstripping

a.) Seal your garage door bottom

Check whether light rays are visible under your garage door. If they are visible, you need to seal the door bottom properly. Use these ways to seal the bottom.

Use garage door brush strip seals

Brush strip seals are helpful if you want an easy cleaning time for your garage. The strip has brush type fibres attached to the inside part of your garage door. When the door is closed, the fibres brush the ground and seal off the door from any elements.

For a brush strip seal installation:

• Align the brush strip with your garage floor bottom
• Mark where holes need to be drilled on your garage door.
• Ensure your brush hangs where it will seal off all gaps
• Drill the holes and screw the brush strip in the door, ensuring that the door can close properly.

Door bottom seal

This U-shaped seal clips onto your door easily without requiring glue or nails.

• Measure your door and cut the appropriate seal size, and then install it.

The seal can trap a small amount of air inside, which allows it to constrict once the door is closed and tightly seals your door.

Use threshold seal

Follow these steps to install your garage door seal:

• Sweep your floor of all debris and dirt
• Measure your door frame width and cut a seal in that size.
• Close your door and attach the seal, ensuring the thin part slides to the bottom of the door and the inside of the door rests against the rubber.
• Use chalk to mark the floor where the seal will be placed.
• Remove the seal and apply rubber adhesive on the floor space.
• Firmly press down the seal and leave it for about 24hours to set.

Although floor seals help weatherproof your garage door, they have some disadvantages.

• They block water from flowing out of your garage
• They can trip you
• They make cleaning your garage difficult 

b.) Seal your garage door sides

Weatherstripping

Gaps on your garage door sides are caused by wear and tear on the frame or a frame that doesn’t fit well.

• Purchase purpose-made weatherstripping for your garage door
• Measure the inside edge of your door frame jamb and cut your weather stripping to that size
• Use a rubber adhesive to glue it in place
• Close your garage and leave it for about 24hours to let the seal set.

Check this too: Garage Door Maintenance and Upkeep 101: The Ultimate Guide

c.) Seal your garage door top

A garage door top seal is usually a rubber strip pressed onto the ceiling when the door is closed, causing a great difference in your garage temperature.

For installation:

• Clean your door frame of all debris and dust at the top
• Measure the width of your door top and cut the seal accordingly
• Align the seal with your door top so that the rubber lip hangs outwards.
• Remove your seal’s sticky back and press it into place
• Ensure your door operates without difficulty

Conclusion

Sealing off your garage door will significantly improve the temperature inside.

Choose the method of sealing your door that best works for you and your region’s climate.