How to Install Weather Stripping Around an Exterior Door

With the skyrocketing cost of energy and increased environmental awareness, it's more important than ever to take action to insulate your home. One of the cheapest and easiest ways to prevent drafts around an exterior door is by installing weather stripping. The process is so easy that even a home-improvement novice should be able to successfully install weather stripping and shave dollars off his energy bills.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Weather stripping
• Measuring tape
• Tin snips
• Safety glasses
• Small nails
• Sill seal

1. Measure the exact dimensions of your door frame. Use a tape measure and take notes.

2. Visit a hardware store to browse the different types of weather stripping. Consult with the sales professional for recommendations or warnings about different brands and types of weather stripping.

3. Measure out lengths of weather stripping to match the measurements of your exterior door.

4. Trim pieces of weather stripping. While scissors should be strong enough to cut through basic, self-adhesive weather stripping, you may need a pair of snips to cut through metal-backed weather stripping.

5. Close the exterior door and hold the weather stripping in place. Look for any irregularities in the door frame to find problem areas you'll want to address when you install the weather stripping.

6. Open the door and put the weather stripping in place.

7. Install the weather stripping around your door frame by the method described in the instruction manual. Peel the backing from a self-adhesive brand and gently press the weather stripping into place. Use small nails to secure a non-adhesive brand of weather stripping.

8. Look for more weather stripping tips and advice from the U.S. Department of Energy. Its Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy website is a source of information about insulating doors and windows (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• While weather stripping is fairly intuitive and basic, there are some different kinds of stripping that might provide greater protection against drafts. For problematic exterior doors, try to find weather stripping with a firm aluminum backing.
• Try compounding the power of weather stripping around an exterior door by adding a door sweep. Decorative door sweeps can be purchased for the inside of a door.
• Add a sill seal to the door's exterior to provide extra protection against drafts. A small, metal sill seal can be purchased at a hardware store and installed with minimal effort or equipment.
• Never go without protective goggles when trimming weather stripping with any metal components. Proper eye protection is the golden rule of home repair.

Resources

• Weather stripping advice from the U.S. Department of Energy website