Garage Door Perimeter Seals
I am finishing up a garage build in New Hampshire. The garage space will be heated and the garage doors are the biggest issue as far as air infiltration goes. I have gone with a two inch thick polyurethane door. Each door section has a sealing strip inbetween to seal air infiltration. The issue that I am having is finding a good high quality perimeter seal. Garaga brand double seal was recommended for its good sealing qualitys and the vinyl rubber seal is supposed to be very flexible down to low temps. When I called and asked about it the dealers said they dont really like it that much because the unit comes in two pieces, bottom piece screws onto the trip with one seal then the second seal is attached to a cap which snaps over the base section hiding your screws. They said they dont like it because the pvc base and cover sections expand and contract a lot. Does anyone know of any other products for garage door perimeter seals which have a double seal? Thanks.
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Replies
Jonathan,
I'm afraid I don't know of any products to recommend. I certainly agree with you: sealing the perimeter of a garage door to prevent air leakage is difficult.
I'm adding this comment in hopes that other GBA readers will see the thread and post helpful recommendations.
-- Martin Holladay
I searched for solutions and finally built insulated carriage house (style) doors that fill the 2x6 void made by the overhead doors. They are easy to build with a tight clearance.. in my case 1/4 inch tip and bottom. I built gaskets for the top and sides a a sweep for the bottom.
I'm in the country and like the look..also my design means you need to manually open and cloae the exterior doors... which can be secured open for the warmer months.
Ps..i uaed 4 inches of xps and eps (its what i had) for the carriage doors.. they seal like a bank vault
Thank you, it sounds like your doors are well sealed but I need to have my doors work like garage doors. If I could find some quality flexible double seal stripping I wouldn't be opposed to building my own seals.
Check out Thermotraks.com they have a very simple and effective new way to thermally seal the perimeter of a sectional garage door. Great product.