Benefits of Sealing Garage Doors
Your garage doors are your home’s largest access point, so if your garage doors have a faulty seal, your house risks exposure to the elements and unwelcome pests like insects and rodents. If you’re looking to save energy, reduce your heating or cooling costs, protect your garage from water damage and keep pests away, sealing your garage door can do all of the above. While all garage doors come with a weather seal, they wear out over time and need replacement. Weatherstripping your garage door provides you with peace of mind by ensuring nothing can get into your home.
What Is Garage Door Weatherstripping?
Weatherstripping seals air leaks around moving components of buildings, like windows, doors and garage doors. The seal improves energy efficiency and protects your home from invading pests and the elements, and these are only some of the benefits of weatherstripping on garage doors. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, when you weatherize your home by sealing doors and windows, you can save an average of $283 in annual energy costs. Garage doors with faulty weatherstripping pose a significant energy drain on your home through increased heating and cooling needs.
Garage doors come with weatherstripping on the bottom that should create an airtight seal against your garage floor. The seal helps keep your garage cool in the summer and warm in the winter, while preventing water and pests from entering your home.
As with most things, the seals on garage doors are susceptible to wear and tear with regular use. As the weatherstripping becomes worn, the seal is no longer sufficient, and you may notice water entering your garage when it hadn’t previously. A water leak is a sure sign that you need to replace your weatherstripping. If you don’t re-seal your garage door, the stripping will continue to wear away and will become even less protective over time. Bugs like ants or cockroaches and even larger pests like mice or rats can squeeze through poorly sealed garage doors and make themselves comfortable in your house, so it’s vital to ensure your weatherstripping is still doing its job.
Sealing Garage Door Benefits
The benefits of garage door weather seals are numerous and extend from lowering your energy costs to protecting your home from damage.
1. Offers Protection From Water and Flooding
Water damage often happens before you can react to it. Even average rainstorms can cause damage if your garage doors don’t have a proper seal. Water leaks underneath garage doors and can quickly spread over the ground, damaging anything you have on the garage floor. Then, once the water starts to evaporate, the condensation will struggle to escape and can damage any electronics or vehicles you have stored in the garage. The condensation can also gather around windows in your garage and may encourage mold growth over time. Mold can spread throughout your home and often requires extensive renovations to eliminate the health risks it poses.
Sealing your garage doors with weatherstripping will protect your home and possessions by creating a sturdy seal that will keep the rain outside, even if you’re facing heavy storms. Garage door weatherstripping is vital to keep your home safe from water damage.
2. Decreases Energy Bills and Increases Insulation
Cold air in the winter or hot air in the summer can enter through any cracks in your garage door sealing. These drafts cause your cooling and heating systems to work harder, which increases the associated costs. As time goes on, you may have to spend extra money on maintenance because your air conditioning unit cycles on and off more frequently than it should. Drafts can also make your garage uncomfortable to be in by creating temperature differences from the rest of your home.
By installing weatherstripping on your garage doors, you will only need to heat or cool your garage when it’s necessary. Drafts from outside will no longer penetrate your garage because a strong seal will be airproof. You should notice a decrease in your energy bills after sealing your garage doors.
3. Keeps Insects and Rodents Out
If you start to notice vermin such as insects or rodents in your house, your garage door sealing may be to blame. These pests can squeeze through any small imperfection in your garage door’s seal and infiltrate your home. Your garage door is your main line of defense against these creatures because once they’re in your garage, it’s easy for them to enter the rest of your home. Insects and rodents are prolific breeders, so what starts as a small problem can quickly lead to something much more devastating. Vermin can carry fleas and diseases into your home, damage your possessions and get in your food.
By sealing your garage door, you ensure that no pests will have access to your home.
4. Decreases Damage to Your Garage Door
When your garage door has reliable weatherstripping, it will require less frequent repairs than if the sealing was no longer sufficient. The weatherstripping protects your garage door from the pests and elements that most often damage garage doors’ structure and mechanisms. Water and vermin, in particular, can cause damage to your door that requires immediate repair. The weatherstripping also protects your garage door if it slams shut by offering a padded cushion. You prolong your garage door’s lifespan by sealing it.
Do You Need a Professional to Seal Your Garage Door?
You must seal garage doors with precise measurements and high-quality materials. If the measurements are off by even a fraction of an inch, your garage is still at risk of water damage, drafts and vermin. The materials used to seal garage doors should be of premium quality to withstand the constant friction and movement that garage doors experience.
We recommend having professionals complete this task for you. They can assess your garage door and create a comprehensive plan to seal it with the best materials for your specific garage. You may also need repairs to the garage foundation if there are any cracks in the concrete. If you apply weatherstripping, but don’t fix the foundation, your garage doors will not form a full seal. Professionals are experienced at handling garage sealing and will ensure your home has adequate protection.
How Long Does Weatherstripping Last?
V-shaped neoprene rubber strips attached to both sides of the garage door often seal the doors’ tops and sides. These strips do a great job keeping out dirt, vermin and water, but the rubber can dry up and begin to crack or warp over time.
Similarly, U-shaped rubber or vinyl tracks attach to the bottom of garage doors to create a seal at the garage’s foundation. The rubber will begin to warp and crack as it ages, which weakens the seal and exposes your garage to nature.
How long your garage door weatherstripping lasts depends on your location, climate and weather conditions. Your sealing may wear out sooner if your garage door often experiences extreme temperature fluctuations and frequent weather events.
You can expect your weatherstripping to last an average of two years with normal wear and tear.
Here are some warning signs to look for when deciding if it’s time to replace the sealing.
- Visible distortions in the stripping, such as cracks or color changes.
- The seal is no longer bouncing back into place and leaves a gap between the garage door and the floor.
- Water begins to enter your garage near the door.
- Pieces of the weatherstripping are breaking off when you touch it.
Contact Best Overhead Door to Seal Your Garage Doors
Why seal your garage door? Garage door weatherstripping protects your home and your possessions from water, wind and pest damage, so it’s vital to ensure that your sealing is doing its job. Daily wear and tear will have an impact on your garage door sealing and increase your utility bills. At Best Overhead Door, we can apply new weatherstripping to your garage door to create a durable seal, so the door can fend off anything that tries to enter your garage while lowering your energy usage.
If you notice your stripping is no longer working as effectively as it once was, please reach out today to schedule service. You can also request a free estimate online.