Doors are significant culprits in allowing unwanted noises in and out of our rooms, and the garage door is no exception.
Existing gaps on your garage door not only will they allow noise inside your garage but also may cause rain, water, wind, and snow in your garage.
In this article, we offer different approaches on how to seal the garage door from the inside cheap and in seven easy steps.
Most of us have converted our garages into mini-workshop, where we can undertake DIY projects. Unfortunately, the gaps on your garage door can allow street noise and cold air, which can cause discomfort when undertaking your DIY exercises.
Garage Door Seal Materials Required:
To seal your garage door, you will need the following:
- A garage door seal
- Rubber adhesive
- Weatherstripping
- Door door top seal
- Brush strip seal
How to Seal the Bottom of the Garage Door
To inspect if your garage needs sealing on the bottom side, here’s what you should do. On a sunny day, go to your garage, close the garage door, and switch off the lights.
If you can see some lights leaking inside, it’s time to get your hands dirty and ensure the garage door bottom is properly sealed.
Here’s how you can achieve this:
1. Garage Floor Seals
One of the simplest ways to seal the gap on the bottom of your garage door is by using a garage door floor seal.
No much effort is required to install them, and they are highly effective not only at blocking noise but also dirt, rodents, and insulating your garage against bad weather.
They are similar to acoustic thresholds used in normal domestic doors. Are made of rubber and have a raised part that the door closes against hence creating a seal.
Here’s how you can install your garage door seal:
- Clean the floor to ensure that no dirt or any other obstacle comes your way during installation.
- Measure your garage door with and cut the floor seal to size.
- Close the garage door and install it down such that the thin side of the seal slides under the door while the inside of your door sits against the raised rubber lip.
- Now use chalk to mark the floor where the seal will go
- Then remove the floor seal and cover the floor space in a criss-cross pattern.
- Leave the seal to glue firm for at least 24 hours.
2. Door Bottom Seals
It’s a U shaped seal that clips into place on the bottom of the garage door. No screws or glue is required.
To install a garage door bottom seal, take the measurements of your garage door, and then cut the seal into size and attach it to the bottom of your door.
Because the seal traps some amount of air inside when the door is closed hence creating a tight seal that blocks out rodents, air, and sound from leaking inside your garage.
How to Seal the Top of the Garage Door
To fully seal your garage door, there’s no way you can ignore the top. For this job, you will need a garage door top seal– a rubber strip that seals the top against the ceiling when the door is closed.
A major advantage of the top seal is that they are great in thermal insulating the garage.
Because warm air rises to the top of the garage/ or any room- this seal will prevent the warm air from escaping from your garage hence keep you warm during winter.
Weatherstripping
The sides of your garage door are the biggest culprit in allowing dirt, noise, rodents, insects, and air getting in your garage.
The side gaps could be as a result of poor fitting or your garage door tear and wear over the years.
Weatherstripping is a simple yet effective tool for weather sealing any door. Below are simple steps on how you can install weather strip on your garage door.
- Buy this Universal Weather Stripping Seal for Garage Door
- Measure the sides of the garage door fram jamb and cut the weatherstrip you purchased to fit.
- Glue the weatherstrip using a rubber adhesive such as Sika, Sikaflex 1A
- Close the door to press firmly against the weather seal and leave it for at least 24 hours. Ensure no glue spills to the door, which could rip the seal when opening the garage door.
How to Insulate a Garage Door
Besides simple garage door seals, you can perform a more advanced DIY garage door insulation to make your life cooler, warmer and quieter.
Insulating the garage also lowers energy bills and also helps soundproof your garage from street noise.
Garage insulation is a cheap and simple DIY project that will cost you about $200 to properly insulate two 9ft wide doors.
Types of Garage Door Insulations
While any insulation will improve the energy-efficient and soundproof your garage, below are the most common types to apply for your garage doors.
- Foam board Insulation. These are grid panels made from polystyrene. They provide high insulation for relatively little thickness.
- Batt insulation. Commonly made of fiberglass and is often backed by foil or paper, which acts as air and vapor barrier.
- Reflective insulation. Have highly reflective aluminum foil on one or both side of insulation materials, such as polyethylene bubbles and cardboard. It reflects radiant heat making it great for garages that tend to heat up in summer or garages in hot climates.
On How To Seal A Garage Door From The Inside
A well-sealed garage door will keep noise, water, snow, rodents, and insects away. If your garage is your workshop, sealing it will add comfort when working during the summer and winter too.
The above methods are simple ways on how you can properly seal your garage. However if you find this too hard for you, we’d recommend you contact an expert. Or watch some YouTube video tutorials to simplify the work for you.