Show me your door seals!

[2bits]

So I am wondering what to do with door seals since mine aren't working the way I had hoped. I put seals on the back side of the T-Molding and when the door is in place and pulled tight, I can see it is not sealing at the front and at the back in the top corners. The door isn't twisted, it just isn't pulling as tight as where the latch is.


My hinge spacers are probably a 16th too tall maybe?


Also the door looks "funny" because it doesn't sit all the way in the door jamb anymore, I don't remember seeing this before, even with people who had just plywood walls and doors.

I thought about putting seals on the door jamb but this defies logic to me because when the door closes it is naturally going to want to pull up the seal. I mean you have to get it tight enough to seal, but loose enough for the door to slip over it which seems amazing to me, but maybe that's the way it is. I tossed one up there to see:



I've seen people make a inner door frame and that may be what I am needing to do to take up the extra space and to make it seal, I just don't know at this point because I have seen it without them too like on this Kit:

Flush doors and no inner frame, and the door sits flat with the wall... What gives... I want this!




Can you guys post your seals and how they are oriented? I know there are a hundred ways to do it but how are you t molding and other guys with outer frames doing yours? I want to know exactly what I am going to be doing before I bust all my door jamb trim off and start making my door jambs bigger! Thanks...

[chgrsteve67]

[madjack]

T, I do an inner seal so I can't help you with specifics BUT, it looks to me like you are using too thick a seal...maybe try a 3/16, flat, closed cell, foam weather strip or something similar
madjack

[Dean_A]

What Mad Jack said. Thinner seals. I did mine the same way. I used 3/16" gray rubber seals from Home Depot. The outside bottom corners don't quite seal (maybe a 1/16' gap due to slight door warpage), but at least I'll never have to worry about suffocating at night. I added an additional strip along the inside threshhold along the strike plate edge to take care of that.

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Ken-Skil used a slick trick to combat door warpage on the latch side...
They've got a tapered 1x mounted to the inside of the door on edge vertically.
It keeps the plywood straight and doubles as a handle to pull the door closed.

[2bits]

Thanks guys, i am using the black Marine seal from the box store. It is 5/16" thick EPDM rubber. I really would like the flush look too like the Kit has, if I go with a thinner seal the spacers will need to be shaved or removed which is just fine with me. I will think about a thinner seal that has more compression in it.

Thanks

[doug hodder]

Maybe a bulb type or open core gasket material would be the answer. I use that small D shaped stuff, compresses really well. 3/8" wide, I'm thinking 1/4" high. Doug

[planovet]

I agree with Snoop Dougie. I used the type you have at first but because of slight warpage, it didn't seal right at certain spots. It leaked during our first trip. I went with a D shaped seal and it works much better. It's squishier (is that a word?) and is more forgiving of variances in gaps. Of course my application is different than yours but the principle is the same. I got the seal from McMaster-Carr Link

Before:





After:

[2bits]

I was wondering what you were alluding to when you said you had a small leakage problem! Thanks for the info!