Shop door weather sealing

[Don Hein]

I'd like to get some thoughts on air-sealing/weather-stripping edges of swing-out shop double doors I'm going to build to replace the 6x7 roll-up door. The roll-up tracks are in the way of piping for a cyclone dust collector.

The door opening is framed with 2x8s. The floor is smooth concrete, slight slope out, becoming a 4' apron. I would prefer not to install anything on the floor which would hamper rolling heavy tools, carts, etc.

The doors will be made of plywood, hollow with foam slab insulation, more-or-less similar to doors I found yesterday here with the search function (but can't seem to find today). No matter; that post didn't discuss edge sealing.

The shop is currently unheated, but in winter it stays above 55 degrees, being situated as a "daylight" basement under part of the house. There is ductwork to the furnace, but I've never activated it, liking a cool shop.

The doors will not be open to rain; the location is well under a double carport.

Thanks in advance for your helpful ideas.

[Josiah Bartlett]

You can use a door sweep on the bottom. However, they tend to work a lot better with even a light threshold. This allows the sweep to be in the air when the door isn't closed, and makes the sweep last a lot longer.

For the rest of the doors, I like the sponge vinyl weatherstrip that installs into a saw kerf in the jam. It seems to last longer than anything else, seals tight, and is cheap and easy to replace.

The other thing you could do is go to an industrial-style rollup door, the kind that rolls up like a sleeping bag right over the top of the door. These usually come with weather stripping already installed and use a garage-door style seal on the bottom.

[David G Baker]

I have a 10'x10' roll up door that is insulated with the foil coated bubble wrap. The bubble wrap does help. The reason I went roll-up was because of the space that is wasted by other types of doors. There is a vinyl strip that rests against the sides and top of the door when it is closed.
The Borgs have garage door vinyl weather stripping that may do what you want.

[Rick Levine]

I have a wooden sliding barn door that I built and I installed weather stripping from SealEze (http://www.sealeze.com) and it works great. I was having a mouse problem before I installed it and now no mice!

Here is a photo of the door inside and out:

[Jamie Buxton]

For the top and sides, you can use most any kind of weatherstripping. I like the kerf-in flavor:http://www.mdteam.com/products.php?category=211 . It stays in place without nails or glue, but is replaceable if it gets mangled. You do have to kerf the doorstop molding, but that will be easy for you.

For the bottom, consider "automatic door sweeps". They'll work without a threshold. The seal on the bottom moves so it seals down to the floor when the door is closed, but is out of the way for motion. They are activated mechanically by a pin which contacts the door jamb. For instance http://www.mdteam.com/products.php?category=196 , but there are many versions out there.

Both of these products should be available at HD, Lowes, or building yard.