Weatherstripping 101

Assuming you have discovered all the leaky places in your home, it’s time to take some action.   Weatherstripping will make all the difference, whether you do it yourself or get a contractor to help you with more ambitious efforts.

To fix windows and doors, there are many options made from vinyl, felt, foam, metal, wood and more.  Courtesy of our very own Uncle Sam, here’s a list of the most common choices:

1.   Tension seal
Self-stick plastic (vinyl) folded along length in a V-shape or a springy bronze strip (also copper, aluminum, and stainless steel) shaped to bridge a gap. The shape of the material creates a seal by pressing against the sides of a crack to block drafts.  Use for inside the track of a double-hung or sliding window, top and sides of door.

2.   Felt
Plain or reinforced with a flexible metal strip; sold in rolls. Must be stapled, glued, or tacked into place.  Seals best if staples are parallel to length of the strip.  Use around a door or window (reinforced felt); fitted into a door jamb so the door presses against it.

3.   Reinforced foam
Closed-cell foam attached to wood or metal strips.  Use in door or window stops; bottom or top of window sash; bottom of door.

4.   Tape
Nonporous, closed-cell foam, open-cell foam, or EDPM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) rubber.  Use on top and bottom of window sash; door frames; attic hatches and inoperable windows.  Good for blocking corners and irregular cracks.

5.   Rolled or reinforced vinyl
Pliable or rigid strip gasket (attached to wood or metal strips).  Use for door or window stops; top or bottom of window sash; bottom of a door (rigid strip only).

6.  Door sweep
Aluminum or stainless steel with brush of plastic, vinyl, sponge, or felt.  Use in bottom of interior side of in-swinging door; bottom of exterior side of exterior-swinging door.

7.  Magnetic
Works similarly to refrigerator gaskets.  Use in top and sides of doors, double-hung and sliding window channels.

8.  Tubular rubber and vinyl
Vinyl or sponge rubber tubes with a flange along length to staple or tack into place.  Door or window presses against them to form a seal.  Use around a door.

9.   Reinforced silicone
Tubular gasket attached to a metal strip that resembles reinforced tubular vinyl.  Use on a doorjamb or a window stop.

10.  Door shoe
Aluminum face attachment with vinyl C-shaped insert to protect under the door.  Use to seal space beneath door.

11.  Bulb threshold
Vinyl and aluminum.  Use in door thresholds.

12.  Frost-brake threshold
Aluminum or other metal on exterior, wood on interior, with door-bottom seam and vinyl threshold replacement.  Use to seal beneath a door.

13.  Fin seal
Pile weatherstrip with plastic Mylar fin centered in pile.  Use for aluminum sliding windows and sliding glass doors.

14.  Interlocking metal channels
Enables sash to engage one another when closed.  Use around door perimeters.

More info:   Read more about these weatherstripping alternatives from the U.S. Department of Energy.  We’re pleased that Uncle Sam helps you consider costs, advantages and disadvantages.