Most garage doors are sealed at their lower portion through an aluminium or plastic lower retainer directly screwed to the bottom. These seals are usually held in place through a track, and are about 3 to 4 inches wide. In this blog post, the Chicagoland garage door installation service experts here at Garage Door Repair Chicago will detail some of the various types of bottom door seals that exist on garages.

Wooden Garage Door Lower Seals

Wooden garage doors, unlike standard steel garage doors (which often utilize aluminium or plastic bottom door seals) actually use rubber bottomed seals that are directly nailed into place. It’s imperative that the garage door’s width is measured before this lower seal is purchased, as well as that the seal is installed in a manner that leaves no gaps from which air can escape out of.

Rolling Steel Garage Door Lower Seals

Rolling steel doors have a complicated bottom weather seal, one that is usually held in place by the bottom bar of the door.r It’s essential to pay attention when you remove the old seal off the door. Many rolling steel garage doors use electric or pneumatic safety devices. Pneumatic hoses can be removed from older bottom seals and reused in new seals. However, if you find wires directly built into your bottom seal, we recommend contacting a professional to determine if a new seal must be made due to your door’s electric safety edge.

Lower Seal Thresholds

Many residential and commercial garage owners utilize a rubber threshold that is glued directly to the floor of the garage. Lower seal thresholds are simple to install, and can easily be cut with a box cutter. However, they are not a great choice for installation in environments where the outside temperature regularly is less than 40 degrees fahrenheit.

Uneven Floor Seals

If your new garage door is being installed on an existing property – replacing a sagging wooden garage door – it’s likely that the concrete of the floor is somewhat uneven as well. New garage doors can be fit even on uneven ground through the use of oversized bottom rubber seals and threshold combinations that can bridge this gap!