Share 4 Easy DIY Tips for a Draught Proof Front Door
One of the main causes of draughts in the home is a poorly insulated front door, with gaps around the door, frame and floor letting cold air in and warmer air out. Fixing front door draughts, and draughts from all your external doors, will help save on energy bills, and it's easier to do than you might think.
Topics:
How to Find Draughts in Your Front Door
Easy Ways to Draught Proof Your Front Door
1. Don't Underestimate the Cushion Draught Excluder
2. Easy to Fit Brush Draught Excluders
3. Quick Fix Self Adhesive Strips
4. Fill Gaps with Calk or Silicone Sealant
Thisguide looks at four effective ways of draught proofing your front door, and other external doors, to stop draughts and help make your home more comfortable and energy efficient during the winter months. But first let's talk about how to find exactly where those chilly draughts are coming from.
How to Find Draughts in Your Front Door
To spot where draughts are coming from, look for obvious gaps: around the door, between the door and the inner door frame, and between the outer frame and surrounding brickwork, on the inside and outside.
Remember to check the bottom of the door too, where it meets the lower sill. And bear in mind that a gap won’t necessarily be visually apparent.
Check the Door Frame
A gas fire lighter can help find draughts. Simply take the lit fire lighter and slowly move it around the frame and over your door. If the flame flickers there's a good chance you will have found a draught.
Checking the Exterior Side of the Door
Check the outside of the door too, the external door frame, for gaps between the frame and masonry. If you find gaps or cracks outside, they'll need to be filled with silicone sealant — more on that later.
Keyholes & Letterboxes
Don't forget to check keyholes and letterboxes for cold air flow. How to draught proof them is covered in a separate guide here. And if windows are the culprit for your draught problem, then find practical ways draught proof windows here.
Easy Ways to Draught Proof Your Front Door
Whatever's causing your front door or other external door draught will determine the remedy. Let's look at ways to fix door draughts, preventing cold air infiltration and heat loss, to improve home comfort, save energy and money on your energy bill.
1. Don’t Underestimate the Cushion Draught Excluder
Perhaps the obvious and easiest way to manage draughts coming under external doors is with a long, soft cushion or soft pillow draught excluder. Most soft cushion excluders are relatively cheap and can be very effective.
They are simply made from a long fabric casing filled with hollow fibre stuffing or other soft material. These types of cushion draught excluders, or snakes, are often weighted to help them stay firmly in place at the bottom of the door. With other stuffing materials such a sand, rice or dried pulses, or even unused cat litter, no weighing down is needed.
To really save money, and especially if you enjoy handicrafts, why not make your own front door draught excluder? Find out how here.
2. Easy to Fit Brush Draught Protectors
For a more permanent solution to draughts coming underneath external doors, try installing a brush strip draught excluder on the doors bottom edge.
Brush draught excluders are a length of uPVC or metal that screws to the bottom of a door, with a tight, thin brush running along it between the door base and the floor. The bristles allow the door to open and close while creating a brush seal blocking air coming through the gap along the bottom edge.
Installing a pre-drilled brush strip is a straightforward DIY job. Let's run through how it's done. First, these are the tools that you'll need to do the job:
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Measuring tape
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Hacksaw
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Pliers
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Marker pen
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Screwdriver
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Screws
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Sandpaper
Step 1: Measure up
Start by measuring the width of the door. With a marker pen, mark the width on the brush strip.
Step 2: Cut to size
Slide the bristles insert out of the strip, and using the hacksaw cut to the measured length. Then take the cut strip and line up with the bristles, marking the strip’s length on the bristle insert. Next take your pliers and cut the bristles at the mark to match the strip length.
Bend the bristle length slightly in the middle and insert it back into the strip — this helps keep the bristles firmly in place within the draught strip.
Step 3: Preparation
Inspect the cut edges of the draught strip. If they are rough or uneven, smooth them out using sandpaper. This will ensure a better seal.
Step 4: Position
Place the cut strip along the bottom of your front door, ensuring it is centred and the bristles are snug against the floor.
Step 5: Attach
Screw the draught strip to the door. Make sure the screws are tight, but be careful not to overtighten them, as this might cause the strip to warp or crack.
Step 6: Test
Now your draught strip is fitted, close the front door to check the seal along the bottom. Look for any gaps or areas where the bristles may not be making proper contact with the floor. If needed, loosen the screws, adjust the strip and re-tighten.
3. Quick Fix Self Adhesive Strips
Self adhesive foam draught strips are perhaps the most common DIY solution to draught proofing front doors. They help create a seal at the closing edges of your door where it meets the frame.
Note that if your strip is too thin it won't stop the draught. If it's too thick, the door won't close properly.
You’ll need some basic tools and materials to get the job done:
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Measuring tape
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Scissors or utility knife
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Clean cloth
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Soapy water or white spirits
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Pencil or marker pen
Step 1: Clean the door frame
Use a clean cloth with soapy water or white spirits to clean the frame. Remove dirt, dust and grime, and dry thoroughly to ensure the foam strip will stick properly.
Step 2: Measure up
Measure the width and height of the door frame where you plan to install the foam strips. Make sure to measure the top, bottom and sides separately, as they may vary slightly.
Step 3: Cut the strips
Based on your measurements from Step 2, use scissors or a utility knife to cut the adhesive strips to length, making sure to cut them slightly longer than the measured length to ensure a snug fit.
Step 4: Apply the strips
Peel the backing paper off the foam strip to expose the adhesive surface. Start at the top corner of the door frame and press the strip firmly against the frame, aligning it with the edge, facing the door. Be careful not to stretch the strip.
Continue pressing the strip down along the entire frame, making sure it's straight. Trim any excess at the end.
Step 5: Repeat
Ensure that each strip meets at the corners around the door frame to create a complete seal. Press down firmly to make sure all the strips are firmly in place. Note that self adhesive foam strips can be used to draught proof loft hatches too, which are another common source of draughts in the home.
Step 6: Test
Once you've applied the strips, close the door and check for any gaps or draughts. If you find areas where the seal isn't tight, replace the strip that has come loose.
Check out this video to see how easy it is to draught proof a door with self adhesive foam strips.
4. Fill Gaps with Calk or Silicone Sealant
If you have draughts coming through gaps between the door frame and surrounding brickwork, calk or silicone sealant can be the perfect solution. Calk filler is best to use fill gaps on the indoors frame. Use silicone sealant on the frame outside as it’s weather resistant.
To draught proof using sealant, gather a few simple tools and materials:
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Utility knife
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Scraper or putty knife
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Masking tape
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Warm soapy water or white spirits
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A clean damp cloth or sponge
Step 1: Prepare the area
Clean the door frame and surrounding area thoroughly to remove dirt, dust, and grit. Use a soft cloth with soapy water or white spirits. Allow the cleaned area to dry completely before proceeding.
Step 2: Apply masking tape
To help create neat, straight lines, and to prevent excess sealant from spreading onto paintwork, apply masking tape to both sides of the gap you intend to seal. This will also act as a guide when applying the sealant.
Step 3: Preparing the sealant tube
Cut the tube nozzle at a 45-degree angle, making sure the nozzle opening is large enough for sealant to flow, but not so wide that the sealant is unable to properly fill the gap.
Step 4: Apply the sealant
Hold the sealant at a 45-degree angle to the gap and squeeze the gently and steadily, moving the nozzle along the length of the gap as you go, from top to bottom. Apply a continuous bead of sealant, completely filling the gap and ensuring it’s filled along its entire length.
Step 5: Smooth down
After applying the sealant, use a scraper or putty knife to smooth down the sealant bead — or if you don’t mind getting messy, use your finger — to completely seal the gap. Make sure that the sealant is smooth and even along its entire length and the gap is completely sealed.
Step 6: Remove the masking tape
Before the sealant dries, carefully remove the masking tape. This should leave clean lines along the sealed gap.
Step 7: Allow to dry
Give the sealant plenty of time to dry, according to the manufacturer's instructions. This typically takes 24 hours or more, depending on the type and brand of sealant you use.
Once the sealant is fully dry, check to ensure that the draughts have been effectively sealed.
Don't Forget Internal Doors
Remember, to help improve the thermal efficiency of your home, keep internal doors closed where possible. Also, cushion draught excluders and brush strips used for internal doors may help to warm rooms more quickly, making your home more energy efficient.
Final Thoughts
Whether you need a simple solution to eliminate draughts such as a cushion snake draught excluder or self adhesive strips, or you're a DIY dab hand with fitting brush strips or using sealant, ensuring that your external doors are draught free will help make your home more comfortable and energy efficient.
Discover more about how to fix draughts in your hiome with this article: How to Draught Proof your Home.
Find more DIY inspiration articles and how-to guides at the Hiatt Hardware Blog. Or if you're thinking about replacing your front door, browse a range of high quality composite front doors.
