Question:
Last summer, I put up that rubber-flanged vinyl molding around a garage
door completely bare. The fact the door is completely bare wouldn't
have been such a problem if the garage wasn't in her/our basement!
(She was paying electric bills of $400+ a month here in the mountains.)
Anyway, while this molding helped somewhat, a much greater source of
wind--yes, wind--is the fact that the poured concrete "garage" (read
"cellar") floor is out of level. I've been using throw rugs to chink
up the place where the floor drops.
Aside from replacing the entire door--which should have been replaced
years ago--but now can't be because she has other more urgent home
repair issues--and won't sell the house--even though we were just
through one wicked ice storm-- I say aside from replacing the entire
door, can anyone come up with ideas of how to handle this unevenness in
a cosmetically acceptable way?
Answer:
I would think a piece of wood or suitable material fastened to
the bottom of the door to complete the closure, and wide/thick
enough to accept the normal door seal material, would work, would
it not? I've noticed my own garage doors were cut on the bottom
section to align well with the floor slope - so I don't know why
you couldn't sandwich the door with something that would conform
to the concrete.
Make all your templates etc. with the door down all the way -
you don't want to change the door position, just fasten something
to it to fill in the gaps and to accept a door bottom seal.
You should probably use treated wood unless you opt for
aluminum, so it might add enogh weight to the door to require a
tension adjustment.
Cut a strip of plywood or a 1 x 4 the length of the door. Lay it on the
ground next to the door (level) and using a compass or dividers to follow
the contour, scribe the bottom of the wood. Now use a jig saw to follow
the line. Attach this to the bottom panel of the door for a near perfect
fit. You can put some 3/4" insullting strip on the bottom for a better
seal.
