Weather Stripping

[melissalw]

I finally weather-stripped my poor door this summer. Follow up to make the door fit the door jam was required, LOL. But it finally works properly and now, in the coldest part of the winter, we're setting our thermostat an entire three degrees cooler! Very exciting. Why did I wait so long!?

[kevinw1]

I did the same thing last winter on our back door. Finally, no more freezing drafts across the kitchen floor! And ditto on the waiting so long...

[jp1]

Back when we lived in NJ and actually had to deal with cold I was good about stuff like weather stripping, putting the big plastic sheets over the windows every fall, etc. We were always renters but I figured that 1) we'd save more in heating bills then it cost, and 2) it would make our house more comfortable and less drafty. The first place we lived there was fairly new but had settled so much that the sliding door to the balcony was no longer even remotely square. The side of it took about 3/4 inch of weather stripping at the bottom, lessening to 1/4 inch on the top. For a few bucks worth of weatherstripping I'm sure we saved a ton on heating plus our living room was much less drafty. If we'd actually owned the place I would've gotten into more expensive improvements like adding insulation to the space above the front porch ceiling/below the second bedroom floor. That room was always freezing cold in winter.

[larknm]

I've tried weather stripping our doorway in an old adobe house, several times and no use. The strips usually strip off within the day's use. Can anyone tell me how exactly you do it: what materials you use, how you attach them, and whatever else you know about doing this that helps?

[melissalw]

Lark, it sounds like you might be using the stuff that has a sticky back and just goes right on the door jam? If that's the case, make sure you wash the door jam first. I've also been warned that if you live somewhere very dusty, that isn't the best kind. My weather striping is vinyl. It came in a package with a bunch of small nails to fasten it to the door jam, and we haven't had any problems yet. Best of luck!