Everyone is looking to save a few bucks here and there, but not many people are aware that they walk by big money-saving opportunities every time they pass by their entry doors and replacement windows in their Sacramento, CA homes.
A common culprit of wasted energy, and therefore wasted money, is hidden air leaks around your exterior doors during the winter and summer months alike. Whether normal wear and tear have taken a toll on your doors, or if they were never airtight to begin with, a leaky door can be a huge money and energy suck.
Leaks easily occur at the weakest points of contact, as people with older homes can tell you. New homeowners shouldn’t let their guards down, though, as new doors can develop leaks pretty quickly, especially when you’re moving in and an oversized piece of furniture hits against the framing or scrape against the threshold, or if you have indoor pets that always scratch at the same spot when it is time to go outside.
Any fiberglass entry door will break down after months of abuse, leaving a tiny but very expensive leak in your home. Are you wondering if your doors are leaky? Use these techniques to find out:
- Be on the lookout for extra or unwanted light creeping around the edges of exterior doors. If a door is in the shade, you can use a flashlight to check for light leak.
- Feel around for cool or warm air inside a closed door. If there is no visible sign of a space or crack, move your hand around the door’s perimeter to feel for leaks.
- Light an incense stick and have someone stand on the inside of a closed exterior door and move the lit stick around the door perimeter. You’ve found a leak if you see smoke being sucked out or blown inward.
Don’t worry if you find a leak with any of the above tests. Leaky doors can be very simple to fix. Depending on your door’s design, there are a lot of different solutions with various weather-stripping materials like brass with rubber, aluminum with rubber, vinyl, soft rubber and rigid rubber. You can install this weather-stripping along the door’s sides, top and bottom to fill the gaps and stop leaks.
If there is a big gap at the bottom of your door, you can buy a hard rubber channel at your local hardware store and slide it into the bottom of the door to improve the seal. You can easily stop leaks on double doors or patio doors with bulb or leaf style vinyl or rubber weather strips mounted vertically between the two doors.
If all these tips fail you, you can always invest in new Sacramento, CA replacement windows or entry doors for your home. If you choose this route, we are here to help. Please pay us a visit or give us a call for more information on our window and door services.
