Painted Weatherstrip

If you see daylight around the door edges, the weatherstripping isn't working. If the weatherstrip was painted it won't make good contact with the door and should be replaced. Pry the weatherstrip out with a dull putty knife. To remove the strip from a wooden jamb, find the staples that attach the strip to the jamb and use a screwdriver to pry them out. Use the putty knife to pry the strip out of the jamb, figure 1. Remove strips from the head and jambs of steel frames in similar manner.  It may help to use a hairdryer to soften the glue before removing strip from frame.

Missing or Broken Weatherstrip

If the weatherstrip is damaged, replace it with a new strip of the same type. Install magnetic strip (type MG) on the head and latch jamb. Compression strip (type CM) goes on the hinge jamb. See above for replacement procedure.

Misaligned Frame

If the door frame was installed out of alignment, the door may contact the weatherstrip at the top but not at the bottom, or vice-versa. Slowly close the door while looking to see where it first contacts the weatherstrip. If it meets first at the top while leaving a gap at the bottom, take note of the size of the gap. Open the door and pry the weatherstrip out with a dull putty knife. If the frame is wood, use a screwdriver tip to pry the staple out of the bottom of the strip, figure 1. Then move the strip over to close the gap and reattach it. For steel frames, fill the gap between the weatherstrip and the stop with caulk. Allow the caulk to harden before closing the door. Use a similar procedure to correct a gap at the top of a door. If the gap is too great to correct by simply adjusting the weatherstrip, you may need to detach the door frame and re-set it. See Section 7 for more instructions.

Twisted Door

A large gap may indicate that the door is twisted. Open the door and place a long straightedge vertically on the face of the door near the edge on the latch side. If the door face is not flat against the straightedge, the door is twisted, figure 2. If the door hits at the top first, place a 2x4 block between the door and the top of the latch jamb. Push inward on the door near the doorknob enough to gently bend the door back into its original flat plane, figure 3. Use caution if you have never done this before! If the door hits at the bottom first, place the wood block between the door and the bottom of the latch jamb and follow the same procedure.

Sweep And Threshold

Another likely cause of air infiltration is an improper fit between the sweep and the threshold. See Section 5 for information.