Insulating door frames

Forums: Home Improvement, Do It Yourself, Insulation, Weather Proofing, Doorway Insulation
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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3215/3070914339_bd68850c4d.jpg

(^the space I need to fill ^)

My bedroom door is the issue. It goes directly to the outside patio and makes the back of my apartment freezing cold, or super hot..

I have tried to insulate my door before and Im not sure if it is the brand that I am choosing, or the type I am choosing, but nothing works

The space between my door and the door frame is almost as wide as my pinky. I can feel a breeze from it for almost 4 feet

I have tried an insulation that comes in a tight roll at home depot that just sticks on the door frame but it does not stay in place, nor is it thick enough to fill the entire gap.

What other forms of easy to install insulation is there?
Preferably nothing that would alter the structure of the door ... but I also do not have an issue with possible mounting .

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@shewolfnm,

i'd think a strip of wood that almost fills the gap with a layer of felt or platic adhesive over it might be necessary .
or abut the wood or plastic strip against the door and fill in the space between the doorframe and and woodstrip with some high-grade foam .
make sure you fasten the wood/plastic strip into the doorframe . use sufficiently long screws - pre-drill to prevent splitting !
i've done it on some of our windows - MINUS 20 C gives a mighty cool blast .
good luck being the handyman !
hbg

some of these - or similar - items should be suitable for the job . your hardware store should be able to advise you :

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLJ_enCA233CA233&q=insulating+foam+cartridge&btnG=Search&meta=

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@hamburger,

hbg has the right idea; first use wood to fill most of the space, then there are insulators of different sizes and materials at most hardware stores you can fill in the space between the frame and the door.

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@shewolfnm,

It's difficult to get an idea of what type of door it is from the close up photo. Is it a sliding door or a regular door? If regular door, does it open inward or outward? Do you use the door? If not, how about some kind of plastic membrane tacked around the whole thing?

By the way, if the construction and insulation is that sloppy, you probably should also check for air leaks around the housing for electrical outlets and light switches.

Some good info here:

http://www.theworkshop.net/CTVGoodMorningCanada/Insulation/Insulation%20Page%20Nov%2026-00.htm

This video shows how to use spray foam insulation for filling such gaps in door frames.

http://www.askthebuilder.com/Exterior_Door_Insulation_Video.shtml

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My door has a gap almost as big as the thickness of my little finger at the top. I pretty well seal it with what I think is called a floor sweep, designed to work at the bottom of the door to seal the threshold. K-Mart has a self stick version for about $3.00. It will look odd on the edge of the door, I suppose.

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@roger,

and ads for insulating material are already appearing at the bottom of the page .
i guess there are some gremlins constantly checking the a2k questions and quickly inserting answers <GRIN>
hbg

http://blog.jooce.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/gremlins.jpg

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@hamburger,

The ad police is constantly at work on a2k.

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This is a regular, swing out , handle door.
It is steel ( or some kind of metal..) and the gap is even on all sides except the side where the hinges are . There, it fits like a glove.

This door is used a lot as well. Jillian likes to play on the patio , and I have a clothes line back there too that I use daily.
The sticker insulation wears off almost immediately because of door use.. So I am thinking using a thin piece of wood may be best.. but I dont have the tools for that..

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@shewolfnm,

I'm dealing with this same thing on my kitchen door. Bought the wrong weatherstripping tape two days ago, but saw and didn't buy what I think is the right one. Kind of a double bubble tape, with two "columns" of plasticized foam strip. Well, we'll see. You can also use some thin molding, but that may or may not close the air off. Personally, I don't want to rebuild the whole door jamb because of some few feet rotted out tape. (I've built doorways before). That could lead to rebuilding the whole place, which I don't want to get into.

What is needed - I think - is a kind of rubbery gasket, whether the regular ones in the hardware store, or something you devise.

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@shewolfnm,

tis the christmas season...

(treat yourself to last years cordless drill set, $25-30)

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@shewolfnm,

Look for wood "trim" at Home Depot or Lowes. The trim called "door stop" will be about 1/4" thick. Any kind of saw will work to trim to length. You will be using very small wire brads, not 10 penny nails, so you can forget the drilling operation. The smallest, cheapest hammer you've got, or can find will work fine.

Hamburger, there is something about the looks of that creature that I just don't like.

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@roger,

Molding or whatever product is being sold as doorstop is still likely to leave an air gap, so you can open the door... in contrast to a rubbery cushion which reforms to close the gap after the door is closed. Unless that has gasket attached.. which I don't know about.

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@ossobuco,

Shewolf, I bought the cheapest foam stuff and it didn't begin to stick in our weather this week - plus I could tell it was just dumb, the second I tore the package. So I'm moving up in pricing and cleverness in design. At some point I may look into refrigerator gasket stuff, but not yet.

None of this is all that expensive, though real molding can be. Don't know about the chipboard, er, crap. Of course, in this house the moldings are from chipboard, gnash.

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In the video I posted earlier they also show you how to stuff strips of that pink fiber glass insulation into a gap about the size of a finger.

They used the expanding foam on the outdoors side of the gap and the pink insulation on the inside. Between the two, you're able to fill the gap along the entire width of the door frame with insulation. The only tool required for either of them is something thin like a wooden ruler to help stuff the insulation in the gap.

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Insulating door frames

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