Have you ever gone into your garage and realized that it was the hottest room in your house by 20 degrees? Have you gone into your garage and realized that all of the stuff you kept in cardboard boxes was mildewy and ruined? That’s because your garage isn’t weatherproof like the rest of your house.
In most houses, the garage is only meant for your car and doesn’t get much love when it comes to making it comfortable. You can fix this with a few simple changes. Let’s look at how to weatherproof your garage door to start with.
Bottom Door Seal
The first thing that you need to do is add a garage door bottom seal. Your garage door probably won’t sit perfectly flat all the way across, which means that air and water can get in under the door. A bottom door seal helps with this.
In a nutshell, the bottom door seal closes the gap between the bottom of the garage door and the floor. It is made of a flexible material so that it contours to the shape that it needs to be. When installed properly, it can prevent air from going out or in so that any attempts to cool or heat your garage don’t go to waste.
Add Insulation To the Door
Garage doors are never thick or particularly insulated. That means a lot of heat energy transfers directly through the door. To stop this, you need to add garage door insulation to the door itself, such as garage door weatherstripping.
There are kits that you can buy that make this process easier, or you can contact an experienced garage door service. Use rigid foam insulation so that it will last a long time and won’t fall apart. Make sure that it is not too thick so that it won’t interfere with the garage door opener.
Add a Threshold Seal
A door threshold seal can also help with temperature control and water control. A threshold seal or garage door seal is similar to a door seal but is installed on the garage floor rather than the door. They tend to be made of soft materials that can hold their shape. That way, you can drive over them, and they pop back into shape. You can have a threshold seal and a bottom door seal installed at the same time.
The best feature of a garage door threshold seal is that it can help stop water from running into your garage. Keeping rainwater out goes a long way toward preventing mildew and mold, as well as protecting stored items from water damage.
Weatherstrip the Sides
Finally, try adding weatherstripping to the sides of the garage door. Your garage door is not perfectly sealed on the sides. There is a small gap there so that the door doesn’t rub against the wall as the door opens and closes. Unfortunately, this is how a lot of air flows in and out of the room.
You can add weatherstripping here to stop the airflow. This will go a long way toward preventing heat loss or heat coming in so that your garage has a more stable temperature.
Is This Enough To Make My Garage Weatherproof?
If you follow all of the steps on this list, it will take you a long way toward successfully weatherproofing your garage. However, there is a lot more that you can do. The walls, the ceiling, and even the power outlets can be improved to help with this, making it a rather large project. You can get help with some of it to make the project easier. You just need a garage door installer or repair technician.
Parker Garage Doors can help with this. Call us to schedule an appointment so that we can assess your needs and come up with a plan. We can have your garage door weatherproofed and make your garage a more comfortable, temperature-controlled space.
