Drafty windows and doors can be the most aggravating part of keeping warm and comfortable when winter comes but much more than letting cold breezes into your home, drafty doors and windows can allow up to 25% of your home’s heat to escape causing homeowners all over the country to spend significantly more money for heating each year than they should have to! With this winter already well underway there’s no better time than now to seal up your drafty windows and doors and ensure a warm, comfortable, (and decidedly more affordable) year ahead!
DIY Door Sealing Methods
It may seem like an extremely minimal space to worry about but if there’s even a tiny gap between your home’s front door and the doorframe it rests in then you could be losing a lot of your home’s heat while inviting cold temperatures and damaging amounts of moisture into your family’s life! The best way to seal up and gaps which may have appeared around your door is to apply new weatherstripping where your door’s old layer has likely worn off. This is a fairly simple project which in most cases can be completed using simple door weatherstripping kits which can be found at most major hardware stores. But, if you can’t find the time or confidence to tackle the work on your own you can always have your door weatherstripping installation performed by professionals.
In either case, installing new weatherstripping around your door is a simple matter of cutting strips of weatherstripping material into the precise dimensions of your door’s top and side edges and then nailing them to the door frame so that, when closed your door rests directly on the new installation. There are a number of different materials which are used to manufacture weatherstripping though most homes can depend on affordable wood and metal flange strips to solve their drafty door problems.
DIY Window Sealing Methods
There are a number of affordable ways to seal your windows against troublesome drafts, and while the only guaranteed way to improve your home’s window insulation is to have professional window contractors inspect your existing windows and either repair the damage or replace the window entirely, many of these temporary DIY fixes can be counted on to provide high quality sealing results for quite some time! Popular window sealing solutions include plastic film insulation which is secured over the entire window frame, rope and foam caulking which is applied along the edges of the window where it meets the frame, and window weatherstripping which (just like the door variety) is nailed into place around the edges of the window to stop the draft and moisture from entering any naturally occurring gaps.
Each of these window sealing methods can be quickly performed by homeowners with even the most minimal DIY experience and when properly completed can be relied on to prevent a significant amount of energy loss! By using these methods in conjunction with door sealing projects you can ensure that your home retains as much heat and comfort as possible in the months of winter yet to come!
