Replacing Weather Seal

weather seal

Weather seal is located on the bottom of all residential garage doors, and is usually the first component on the door that goes bad over time.   With much of the garage door being steel, the vinyl plastic weather seal usually shrinks at the corners, tears, hardens, and eventually just doesn’t do its’ job.  The steel components might last for 10, 20, even 30 years; but the vinyl plastic seal at the bottom definitely will not.  Here are a few reasons on why you should replace your weather seal on your garage door:

  1. Dust
  2. Leaves
  3. Rodents/Snakes
  4. Ants
  5. Weather
  6. Money

Dust

Dust is a major reason why you should change the weather seal on your garage door. It keeps the dust and dirt from outside your door from getting into your garage. So if you are storing important things in your garage you don’t have to worry about the wind blowing dust debris all over your stuff.

Leaves

We all know what it’s like in the fall when the leaves start falling off of the trees. They are all over your yard and then if you leave your garage door up they get in there also. Well if you don’t change the weather seal on your garage door, even if it’s closed, you will still see leaves gathering in your garage over time. The weather seal provides a barrier on the bottom so that the leaves can’t seep into your garage. Once again this also keeps your valuables that you might keep in your garage from having leaves and sticks all over them.

Snake on Garage Door Tracks

Rodents and Snakes

The picture above was taken by one of our installers in Plano, Texas.  If you look closely, you will see that the weather seal on the bottom of the garage door is missing at the end due to shrinkage over time.  So not only did the customer have a snake in their garage, but the tail of the snake actually caused the garage door to come off of it’s tracks and damage the garage door.  The snake had coiled around the drum at the top corner of the door because it gets warm over time with usage.  Bad place to be.  When the garage door opens, the cable coils around that drum.  Once the snake was removed, the customer gladly elected to have new weather seal installed on her garage door!

This I know can be a gross topic, but rodents and snakes do get into your garage. We have seen mice, opossums, snakes, stray cats, geckos, If you don’t keep the weather seal good on the bottom of your garage door, those rodents can definitely get into your garage. Which in turn they may get into your house! Not only that but they also like to tear up wiring and what not that is also a safety hazard for your home. They can get into the wiring for your garage door opener motor, and the cable and drum system that operated the door and really mess things up. That’s why important you keep your weather seal good on your garage door.

Ants/Other Insects

When you start talking about rodents your think well most of them are big so if there’s a little gap at the bottom they can’t get in. This might be true but it won’t stop ants or other small insects such as spiders from coming right on in! If you keep your weather seal in good condition even small insects like ants can’t come in your garage. Once they get in your garage you could be in all kinds of trouble. Especially if they are able to get into your home. Then they get in your food supply and things like that.

Weather

A proper seal at the bottom of your garage door will prevent air, rain, snow, and wind from causing problems inside your garage.  Wet floors in the garage can be extremely slippery, and the Texas heat can be brutal.

Money

You can save thousands of dollars over the span of the life of your garage door by preventing the elements from getting inside.   Moisture causes corrosion and rust- which is detrimental for all the metal parts on a garage door.  Weather seal will also help you save money on your electric bill.  It is also a relief when you don’t have to worry about everything in the garage getting nasty.  Once everything gets that first layer of dust due to a lack of barrier, there’s no turning back.

Broken Window

If you get a crack in your window, you replace the window don’t you?  If you are a do it yourself kind of person, we sell a variety of garage door weather seals for a wide range of applications and on a wide range of brands and styles of garage doors.  If you haven’t serviced your garage door in the past year, we recommend setting up a service call, that way you can get your one year warranty on labor.  Also, since we’re already at your home, we only charge the cost of the part to install it for you!  Give us a call today, we’re here to help!   972-422-1695

 

By Nick McGregor, General Manager of Plano Overhead Garage Door

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972-422-1695

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