Best draught excluder for a garage door

evoke

I've got an up-and-over garage door that has a very small gap at the bottom which lets in a draught into the garage. There appear to be two types of seals: a wedge-profiled strip of rubber that you fix to the garage floor or a brush-type strip that is fitted to the bottom of the garage door.

Which type would provide the best weatherproofing?

cyclonebri1

You need a draft into your garage, without it in an unheated area you will have real issues if you try to make it air tight there needs to be a good reason and other measures in place. Weather proof? now that's a simpler solution.

Garage, car or all the other family paraphernalia that we store in there???????

evoke

I'm trying to improve the insulation in the garage so that it doesn't zap heat from the room above (it's a part-integral garage).

keith969

I had an up-and over garage door made of steel and apart from the fact that it had large draughty gaps at the sides, top and bottom, and provided no thermal insulation at all.

The solution was to get rid of it and fit wooden side closing doors, with the added benefit of windows to let light in (the glass needs to be toughened glass for security, and obviously only semi-transparent).

I got mine from these people: http://www.woodworkersuk.co.uk/side_hung_garage_doors.htm - no connection wit them but they were really well made and fitted perfectly (they are made to your measurements), and have not warped at all in the last year and a half since fitting.

I got the ones in scandinavian redwood (you can have oak - haha - far too pricey!), which I then varnished with marine grade varnish. They look great, fit really closely. For the draught excluder at the bottom I used some of that brush strip stuff which gives a good seal to the slightly uneven concrete floor.

I should add that my boiler and (insulated) hot water tank plus a large fridge live in the garage so although it's not exactly toasty in there, everything stays dry (the relative humidity at the moment is 39%) and well above freezing - in fact it's 16C in there right now, 0C outside.

evoke

^ Expensive option for me at the moment. I've already lined the interior surface of the garage door with thermal foil so just wanted to stop the draught at the bottom.

bob_a_builder

Better to concentrate on the ceiling of the garage, I would have thought ?

evoke

bob_a_builder wrote: »

Better to concentrate on the ceiling of the garage, I would have thought ?

Absolutely! That's on my list of things to do. Just focusing on stopping the draught from the bottom of the garage door for now.

alwaysbrassic

We have one of those that is glued to the garage floor. It is fab! We got it as when we moved into the house, the garage had mice, and also was full of leaves due to them blowing in under the door. The seal has stopped the mice getting in and we no longer get leaves or water in the garage. It took no time at all to fit.
Think it was about £30 from the Internet. Worth every penny.

gmgmgm

If it's a smooth floor, then rubber fitted to the bottom of the door. If it's anything but a smooth surface, the brush one will be far better.

For the choice you have, definitely the brush fitted to the door.

Avoriaz

Evoke, not quite the same but this thread might be worth reading.

cyclonebri1

evoke wrote: »

I'm trying to improve the insulation in the garage so that it doesn't zap heat from the room above (it's a part-integral garage).

Then you need to insulate the ceiling of the garage.

The garage even if part of the house, has to be classed as a cold room unless you intend to heat it. Therefore you need the barrier between these 2 rooms rather than against the outside.
OK, a draught excluder will possibly hold back a little chill, but the whole fabric of the garage is not designed to hold heat in or cold out.

What is the ceiling of the garage like?, even if it is boarded it would pay to at least remove a small section and check the actual insulation in there, you may be suprised:eek:

If there is anything less than say 6" of celotex or similar, (not loft insulation), it needs bringing up to a higher standard, and even possibly additional polystyrene over the joists before it is reboarded.;);)

Yes it will cost a bob or two but it is the right way to go.
By all means try some form of D excluder, but the door will leak top bottom and sides, and unless it is a foam filled construction, it's insulation value will be very low.

But, monitor the condition of anything valuable or metal or paper etc, sealing the garage is a sure fire recipe for damp and condensation.;)