Your garage door is the biggest opening in your home, and when its seals wear out, everything the outdoors has to offer comes in with it: summer heat, storm water, dust, and pests. A properly weatherproofed door keeps all of that out, protects whatever you store in the garage, and helps with energy bills if the space is attached to living areas. Here is a rundown of the seals that do the work and how to keep them doing it.
The Bottom Seal
The rubber strip along the bottom of the door is your first line of defense, and because it takes the most abuse, it is usually the first to go. When it cracks, flattens, or tears, you get daylight under the door, water after a storm, and an easy path for bugs and rodents. Replacing it is one of the most impactful weatherproofing fixes, and our guide to bottom seal replacement walks through it.
The Threshold Seal
A threshold seal is a strip that mounts to the garage floor rather than the door, and it pairs with the bottom seal to close uneven gaps, especially useful on older slabs that have settled or on driveways that slope toward the garage. It is particularly good at keeping driving rain and leaves from washing in during our Atlanta storms.
Side and Top Weatherstripping
The seals along the sides and top of the door frame are easy to overlook, but worn or missing jamb weatherstripping lets in just as much air, water, and light as a bad bottom seal. If you can see gaps or daylight around the edges of a closed door, this is the culprit. Fresh weatherstripping here makes a noticeable difference in how drafty and dusty the garage feels.
Between the Panels
Sectional doors have joints between each panel, and on quality doors these have built-in seals that keep weather out as the door bends over the top. If those are cracked or an older door never had good ones, wind-driven rain can work its way through. It is a smaller gap than the others, but on a west-facing door that catches afternoon storms, it adds up.
Insulation Is Part of the Picture
Sealing gaps handles air and water, but if your garage bakes in the summer or the room above it is always hot, insulation is the other half of the equation. An insulated door holds temperature far better than a single-layer one, which matters in Atlanta's heat. Our comparison of insulated vs non-insulated doors covers where it pays off, and our guide to summer heat and storms has more on beating the season.
Signs Your Seals Need Attention
Watch for daylight around a closed door, water pooling inside after rain, a sudden jump in bugs or leaves in the garage, or drafts you can feel. Any of these means a seal has failed somewhere. Most seals are inexpensive, and catching them early keeps water off your stored belongings and out of the wall framing. A quick check is a natural part of a twice-a-year garage door maintenance visit.
Not sure which seal is letting the weather in, or want it all handled at once? Our team provides same-day garage door service across metro Atlanta with a free on-site estimate, and we can reseal your door top to bottom so it keeps the heat, rain, and pests where they belong.