Winterizing Doors for the Fall

In all the fun of decorating for the fall, don’t forget that your doors need pre-winter attention during this time also. Just like with your windows, right now is a great time to check and make sure that your doors will do their job of keeping the cold out over the winter.Fix areas in your doors that need to be fixed, insulate what you can, and replace what you need to.Insulate Your Doors A lot of screen doors have storm windows that come with them. As we are getting closer to the cold weather it is time to slide these storm windows in place. The closed storm windows over the screens will provide an extra layer of insulation for your doors.Fix Your DoorsFixing your doors is going to be the biggest thing you can do, short of replacing them, to get them ready for the winter.Replace or add a sweep to the bottom of the door. Adding this on the bottom of your door will help keep the cold from sneaking in under the door. There are 3 different kinds available to purchase; rising, bristled and rubber. They can be found in most hardware stores.Check around the edges of the door and check to see if the weather stripping needs to be replaced before the winter gets here. You can also tighten hinges and strike plates to make sure that the door is hanging correctly and is not creating gaps into the house.Other gaps and holes can be filled with caulking and wood filler. To find where air may be getting in, take a lit candle with an exposed flame slowly past all parts of the door. If the flame flickers, you may have an area that needs to be fixed.Time to Replace Your DoorsSometimes there is just not enough caulking, wood filler, or weather stripping in the world that can fix some doors. When a door cannot be fixed, it is time to get it replaced.Having to replace a door can be good or bad. Perhaps initially bad for your budget as doors are not cheap, but they are a good investment. In the long run though, it ill be a good thing. A new, energy-efficient door can do a much better job of keeping the cold weather out than trying to continue repairs on an old one.It will not only be free of all the problems of an aging door, it will also be specifically created to keep the cold weather out much better than your old door was.