Sealing gaps around doors and windows with weatherstripping can make your home feel warmer and save you a bundle on your energy bills. However, choosing the right type can be overwhelming.
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Our guide explains the different types of weatherstripping, helps you select the right materials, and provides proper installation techniques to keep your home cozy all year round.
Weather sealing acts as a barrier against drafts, moisture, dust, and noise, helping to maintain a consistent indoor temperature and improve overall energy efficiency. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, air sealing doors and windows can reduce heating and cooling costs by more than 20%. Beyond the financial benefits, weatherstripping enhances your home’s comfort with these improvements:
These benefits not only make your living space more enjoyable but also contribute to a healthier indoor environment by reducing allergens and pollutants that might otherwise enter through gaps and cracks.
Several weatherstripping materials are available, each with its own advantages and applications. Here’s a breakdown of the most common weatherstripping options and the best ways to use them.
V strip, also known as tension seal, is a durable plastic or metal strip folded into a ‘V’ shape that springs open to bridge gaps. This type of weatherstripping is highly effective and long-lasting, making it a popular choice for many homeowners. It’s ideal for sealing the sides of double-hung and sliding windows, as well as the tops and sides of doors.
Felt weatherstripping is sold in rolls and is one of the most economical options available. It can be plain or reinforced with a pliable metal strip for added durability. While inexpensive, felt typically has a shorter lifespan compared to other materials, usually lasting only a year or two. This weatherstripping is ideal for sealing the sides of double-hung and sliding windows, as well as the tops and sides of doors.
Foam tape is made from open or closed-cell foam or EPDM rubber with an adhesive backing. This versatile weatherstripping is available in various widths and thicknesses, making it ideal for sealing irregular-sized cracks, particularly in window sashes and door frames.
Tubular weatherstripping is an effective air barrier made of rubber, vinyl, or silicone. It often features narrow sponge rubber or vinyl tubing attached to a wood or metal mounting strip. Silicone versions are typically inserted into milled grooves for a seamless appearance. This option works well in high-use areas like door bottoms and window sashes that require a durable, flexible seal.
Selecting the right weatherstripping material for your upgrading helps ensure the best performance and longevity. Consider factors such as location, frequency of use, and climate to make the best choice.
Depending on the extent of their project, many homeowners can complete weatherstripping in just one weekend. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to weatherstrip your home.
Doors are one of the most common sources of drafts in homes. Learning to weatherstrip your doors can significantly reduce energy loss by sealing door gaps. You can achieve this by adding door sweeps to the bottom or upgrading seals on the sides and top of doors. The guide below provides instructions on how to complete each task.
1. Measure the width of your door.
2. Cut the door sweep to fit if necessary.
3. Position the sweep against the bottom of the door, ensuring it makes contact with the threshold.
4. Mark screw holes and pre-drill if needed.
5. Secure the sweep with screws, making sure it doesn’t interfere with door operation.
Depending on the type of window installed, different weatherstripping techniques are needed. Here is an overview of how to weatherstrip double-hung and sliding windows.
For double-hung windows, focus on sealing the areas where the sashes meet the frame and each other.
Sliding windows require a slightly different approach.
Older homes present specific challenges for weatherstripping due to their historic windows and doors. These older windows and doors often have irregular shapes, worn wood, and delicate components that make it difficult to use standard weatherstripping solutions. Additionally, it’s crucial to preserve the original appearance to maintain the home’s historic integrity. Here are some weatherstripping tips specific to older homes.
Weatherstripping needs can vary with the seasons, and taking a proactive approach can help maintain your home’s efficiency year-round.
Even with careful installation, you may encounter some issues with your weatherstripping over time. Here are some common problems and solutions:
If you notice persistent drafts after installation, take these steps:
If doors or windows become difficult to open or close after weatherstripping, do this:
Most homeowners can do basic weatherstripping on their own. However, professional installation may be worth the investment for complex situations or historic homes.
Professional weatherstripping offers several advantages, including expert material selection, efficient and precise application, and often a warranty on the work performed. Professionals bring specialized knowledge to ensure the right type of weatherstripping is used for each area of your home, maximizing energy efficiency.
This option typically comes with a higher upfront cost compared to DIY methods. Additionally, you may have less flexibility in scheduling the work and less hands-on involvement in the process, which some homeowners prefer.
Properly maintaining your weatherstripping can extend its lifespan and ensure it stays effective. Below are some tips on caring for your weatherstripping and recognizing when it’s time for a replacement.
Proper weatherstripping reduces your energy costs and makes your home more comfortable and eco-friendly. Keep in mind that weatherstripping requires ongoing maintenance. Regular inspections and timely replacements will ensure your home remains well-sealed against the elements for years to come.
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In the final drive to complete and fly your airplane for the first time, a few small details are often overlooked or b slighted. Weatherstripping is one such detail. Of course, weatherstripping is not at all a flight safety matter, but still it is rather important that your canopy/windshield installation be weatherstripped for that first flight. Why? Well, it may all be mental with me, but I always get the feeling that my airplane is safer and flies better when I don't hear all of the unbridled commotion and noise of the engine, propeller and the slipstream. Silly? Maybe so, but for that first test flight the added quietness can be reassuring.
Anyway, as you know, autos, like airplanes, are weatherstripped primarily to keep out or to reduce the amount of wind noise. Apparently manufacturers place great stock in the belief that the auto buying public is impressed by the luxurious quietness of a new model car. Car makers strive, therefore, through insulation and weatherstripping, to provide the quietest car possible for the money. Well, if noise reduction is considered worthwhile in a vehicle moving at 60 mph, think how much more important weatherstripping becomes at speeds well over 100 mph . . . and how about in an airplane capable of cruising at 200 mph? Wind noise like any other kind of sustained loud noise can be damaging to your hearing.
When you stop to think about it, wind noise is not the only reason for weatherstripping. A good job of weatherstripping can reduce drag and also keep your cabin dry - whether the aircraft is tied down in the rain, or you happen to fly it through a shower.
As many airplane owners can tell you, being parked in the rain is not the only way you can get your cabin soaked. Everytime you wash the airplane with a hose you are taking the chance that water will get into the cabin, unless you have the windshield and windows or canopy well sealed.
Weatherstripping is so easy to install that no builder should put up with a leaky airplane and a cabin that is riddled with noise producing air leaks in flight.
To remedy that shortcoming all you need do is to select a type of weatherstrip that will fit well in the areas you want sealed, and then stick the strips down around the edges of windshield and canopy, or door, with a suitable adhesive. There is a little more to it than that, of course. For example, the effectiveness of the weatherstrip you install will depend largely on the type selected for use in the particular location you are trying to seal.
Naturally, you would not expect a single type of weatherstrip to work equally as well every place. On the other hand, you should not have to modify a weatherstrip to make it fit your particular need. There are so many kinds and shapes of weatherstripping available from numerous sources that you should be able to find exactly what you need.
1. Building and Supply Outlets
These, as well as lumber and hardware discount stores, stock common varieties of weatherstripping materials designed primarily for use in insulating homes and other structures. Surprisingly, some of these weatherstripping materials are claimed to be fire resistant. Of the several types to be found in the building and supply outlets, the type best suited for aircraft installations is the flat spongy rectangular vinyl foam rubber strip variety with an adhesive backing (see Figure 1). This kind of weatherstripping is sold in several widths and thicknesses.
These closed cell foam rubber strips are excellent for use with a "flip-over" type of canopy because the foam is very soft and non-absorbent. It will compress down to practically nothing. And it can conform to fit narrow gaps and minor surface irregularities, and still do a good job of keeping out wind noise, dust, rain and water.
2. Auto Parts Stores - Auto parts stores are almost as numerous as drive-in grocery stores, and most of them stock weatherstripping materials manufactured especially for the auto industry. This makes most any auto parts store a very convenient local source for your weatherstripping materials.
Automotive weatherstrips are designed, primarily, for sealing around automobile doors. These sealing strips are made of a black rubber material that is a bit larger in cross section than most other kinds of weather strips. The automotive type of seal strips is also somewhat heavier and more expensive than the "lumberyard" variety. Nevertheless, due to their shapes, some are excellent for use around the base of a windshield and canopy. And, being larger in cross section, such a seal can hide the raw edges of the glareshield upholstery and, at the same time, reduce vibration in the windshield while enhancing its rigidity.
3. Aircraft Supply Sources - This third source for weatherstripping materials includes commercial aviation supply houses, local airport parts departments, and those selling directly to the amateur aircraft builders. These aviation oriented outlets generally have a larger selection of the type weatherstripping manufactured for the aviation industry. As a consequence, you might expect to find their prices a good bit higher . . . but not always.
In the interest of economy, you might first try to make one of the locally available household variety of self-adhesive weather strips take care of your weatherstripping needs. On the other hand, if you do have an unusually shaped area to be sealed you may have to consider ordering one of the less commonly available seal strips illustrated.
(See Figure 3)
It is very annoying to find one end of your weather trips pulled loose and dangling before your eyes. This most frequently happens on hot days after your aircraft has been soaking in the blazing sun on the ramp. The problem may be due, in part, to the use of an inferior adhesive and not your workmanship.
As for suitable adhesives, you really don’t have too many to choose from unless you are willing to experiment with new unproven adhesives. For a weatherstrip adhesive to be effective, it should be capable of adhering to vinyl foam and rubber seal strips, and to a variety of attachment surfaces (wood, fiberglass, metal, etc.). In addition, it must dry or cure rather quickly or you may have to sleep in your airplane while holding that new weatherstripping in place until the adhesive sets.
The best known and most widely used weatherstrip adhesives are a couple of 3M products. One is the more economical, 3M Weatherstrip Adhesive, which is black in color and ordinarily comes in a 5 oz. tube (No. ). The other is an amber (clear) adhesive, 3M Super Weatherstrip Adhesive (No. ). It, too, is sold in 5 oz. tubes. I don't know how much better it is, but it does cost almost twice as much as the black adhesive.
Some builders use Scotchbrand Contact Cement with good results on a variety of surfaces. Others don't fair as well. Hardly anyone recommends the use of a spray adhesive for attaching weatherstripping so that further limits your choices. There may be a number of other products that can effectively attach weatherstripping but, as far as I know, few are commonly available in all parts of the country. On the other hand, the 3M weatherstrip adhesives can be found in virtually all major auto parts stores.
You only have a few things to keep in mind. Be sure that the surface to which the weatherstrip is to be attached is clean and free of oil, grease, wax and silicone contamination.
By all means follow instructions for the use of the adhesive you are using. If it says coat both the seal and the surface to which it is to be attached - do so. Likewise, if the instructions say to wait a bit and allow the adhesive to become tacky, you better believe it.
See that the ends of your weatherstrip installation meet and join closely at the lowest point of the windshield, canopy or door being sealed. This is important if you hope to keep water from penetrating the weatherstripping and finding its way into the cabin. (see Figure 4)
Don't forget to seal around your canopy or door latch if it is located on top.
Try to install the weatherstrips inside the canopy, door, or windshield so that they don't protrude, or show, externally. Installing weatherstripping otherwise will result in a drag producing installation.
Where the structure has sufficient width, two parallel weatherstrips may be installed to produce the most effective seal against wind noise. One of the strips should be attached to the aircraft structure and the other to the opening component (canopy, windshield, door) you want to seal (see Figure 2).
Continuous exposure to weather elements will ultimately cause weatherstrips to harden, become brittle and finally break, or become separated from their point of attachment. When the weatherstripping reaches such a state, it should be replaced. Attempting to repair it by splicing in a short section is not worth the effort.
Another ailment that weatherstripping suffers from is stickiness. The heat of the summer sun occasionally causes seal strips to become sticky, making doors and canopies difficult to open. Sometimes the sticky seals tend to pull away from their attachment points further compounding an annoying condition.
Solve this problem by lightly rubbing a cotton swab or a small cloth wetted with silicone spray along the rubber seal strip. This will eliminate the stickiness.
Do not spray silicone directly onto the weatherstrips as the overspray will contaminate all adjacent areas. As you know, you cannot paint over any surface that has silicone on it . . . it just won't stick. And, furthermore, the invisible silicone is extremely difficult to remove.
Incidentally, before you give your weatherstrips the silicone treatment to eliminate stickiness, you should resecure any portion of the weatherstripping that may have been pulled loose.
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