How To Seal Exterior French Doors In Winter

Unfortunately french doors tend to come with a few concerns.

How to seal exterior french doors in winter.

They allow plenty of natural light to flow into your home making it feel lighter brighter and more inviting. Drafts leaks and even bug infestations are all common complaints of homeowners with french doors in their home. Doors allow more air to escape than windows and because french doors offer twice as many seams and gaps for air to leak in or out proper weatherstripping is key to keeping cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It can be harder to regulate the temperature of a room with french doors especially if they are drafty.

Weatherproofing double doors or french doors. Look for cracks in your door especially around glass panes and fill them with caulking. Always engage the sash locks on double hung widows to close the gap along the meeting rail. Seal gaps between the door and side jambs with long pieces of weather stripping.

This applies even when the door is closed. Exterior french doors should be sealed with weather stripping just like any other type of exterior door. External french doors are a popular choice for back doors large porch entryways and for patios and conservatories. Double doors can often have an unwanted gap where the two panels don t quite meet.

Because french or double doors have more seams they can have more areas where air leakage can occur. If there is a gap between the two doors close it with insulated molding nailed to one of the doors so that it overlaps the other door when closed. Here s how to weatherproof them for the winter months. Seal doors for winter.

A good seal will keep in cool air in the summer and help the house retain heat in the cold of winter. Create a tight seal between the french doors and the floor by installing a door sweep at the bottom. Weather stripping is one of the most affordable and least time consuming home improvement projects and the returns can be well worth it. Furthermore the exterior side of the door and door frame faces the elements taking a more brutal beating from the weather than anything inside your house.

Weather stripping is the material or lining attached to the door that squishes between the door and the door frame floor or door jamb to create a seal. Weather stripping is commonly applied to single pane windows double pane windows and doors of all varieties to keep rain wind and snow out of a home or business. Consider installing two sash locks on wide windows. How to weatherproof exterior french doors.