It was pointed out to me the other day that not everybody wants to build a new home in order to "go green." Others don’t have the revenue to do a "green up" remodel of their existing home. But they still would like to participate in "the green revolution" green building, green revolution — as it’s now being called.

And I know it’s true. I’ve worked for a lot of folks you over the years who didn’t have a lot of money, but were trying mightily to figure out how to lower the utility bills and their impact on the environment without busting the budget. environmental impact, lower utility bills

So, I thought I’d start a little series here in Tips & Tricks. do it yourself tips and tricks

The fact is, there are a lot of things you can do to improve the energy efficiency energy efficiency of your home. Depending on how handy you are, you can do most of them yourself — or with just a little guidance and advice from your friendly contractor contractor — for anywhere from just a few dollars to less than $2,000 (That’ll be our high end for this series) and everywhere in between.

My goal with this series will be not only to give you some guidance and good-old practical do-it-yourself help, but also to play the roll of "myth buster." There’s as much hype (masked as advice, of course) out there in the green building field as there is anywhere else. Not all of it is true, not all of it is effective, not all of it is even good for you.

So, with all that said and now out of the way, let’s start the series. Today:

Sealing up the doors

door seals

You would be amazed at how much heat leaves a building through the doors and windows, even though the doors and windows are closed! doors and windows

The simple fact is: If your house is more than a few years old, your doors frames are probably no longer square. At the best of times you can slide a piece of paper between the door and the stop. On older homes the gap is often wider in some places than others. More opportunity for air flow around the door and stop, letting either hot air out or cold air in. You can lower your heating costs by between 15% and 40% simply by sealing up your doors and windows! And, it only costs about $17/per door to do.

Fortunately, the fix is simple. You can buy door seal kits, also called "weather stripping" at the hardware store. There are two basic types. weather stripping

1. Self adhesive foam. You simply clean the door stop well, cut the seals to the right length, peel the backing and stick them in place. The down side is: The soft foam usually deteriorates in a few years, making it necessary to replace the seal.

2. Tacked in place. These seals are basically a long piece of rubber or metal tape. The soft rubber side is installed tight against the door stop. The thin tape lays either against the jam or against the stop (depending on style). The tape often has precut holes in it for the miniature finishing nails that hold the seal tightly in place. This type of seal is usually of a higher quality and will last for years.

Note that: If your door is so far out of plumb that it drags against the jam, you should plumb-up the door before installing the seals. If you don’t know how, ask your contractor to help you.

To install you’ll need big scissors or a sharp knife, a tape measure, and a hammer. A pair of needle nose pliers is handy too.

1. Measure the three sides of your door jam and cut your weather stripping into those lengths. Don’t assume your jam is square. Cut and measure each piece individually.
2. Making sure the seal rests in the groove between the jam and the stop, tack it into place with the miniature nails the manufacturer provided. The top jam seal should touch both side jams. The side jam seals should be snug against the top jam seal and just touch the threshold at the bottom. Or if your seal is the type that is screwed into the face of the stop, make sure the “fat” part of the bead just touches the stop.
3. If you have trouble with the little nails, use a pair of needle nose pliers to hold them while while you’re getting them started.

Your door will probably be a bit more difficult to close once the seal is in place as the door has to literally "crush" the seal in order to latch. This is normal. In fact, it’s what you want!

Now, while you’re at it, you may as well install a nice tight door sweep too. A door sweep is an aluminum strip with a soft rubber foot at the bottom. The foot sweeps across the floor without damaging it. When the door is closed it presses up against the threshold and floor creating a much better seal at the bottom of the door. door sweep

To install you’ll need a screwdriver, tin snips, and perhaps a drill. (It depends on whether your sweep comes with self tapping wood screws or regular wood screws.) If you need to drill pilot holes, make sure you use a bit of the size recommended by the sweep manufacturer.

1. Measure the width of your door at the bottom. Don’t assume the door is square and measure at chest level because it’s easier. Measure at the bottom where the sweep will actually be fit.
2. Cut your sweep exactly that width. I try make my cuts so that the little screw holes are evenly spaced from the ends of the door.
3. Now the hard part. Line up your sweep along the bottom of the door. It should just touch the floor when the door is closed.
4. Mark the door with a pencil on the hinge and knob side along the top of the sweep.
5. Mark you pilot holes if necessary. Set the sweep aside and drill your holes. Don’t go too deep. If you want, you can mark the depth on your drill bit with a bit of tape to make sure you don’t go too far. (A bit won’t hurt, but you sure don’t want to drill a hole completely through your door!)
6. Line your sweep back up on your pencil marks and your holes.
7. Starting at the center, sink the screws and you’re done!

Tip: The holes in most sweeps are oblong. Drill your pilot hole in the middle of the oblong hole. That gives you a total of about ¼" adjustment in the sweep even after you’ve drilled and set the screws. Simply loosen the screws, move the sweep, and re-tightening as needed to get the sweep even with the floor.

Finally, if you need more guidance on how to do this job, ask for help at your favorite hardware store. Or, you can search around the web. There are lots of do-it-yourself sites, some with more graphical help than I have time to provide (sorry!). Finally, you can email mail me at michael@altbuildingservices.com and I’ll try to help.

Next time: Window seals!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Tips & Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.