Sliding Glass Door Leaks Cold Air

We discovered that we needed new weather stripping on all of our 20 year old sliding glass doors.

Sliding glass door leaks cold air.

The stationary door fixed panel has moved away from the jamb slightly and does not allow for a good seal at the other side where the doors interlock. Although leaks are extremely common in these areas and sometimes allow rain water air and light into your home a sealed crucial corner won t fix a leak issue in other areas of the door. Sliding glass doors can be a major chink in your house s energy armor. Any air that leaks in through your sliding glass door must push air out somewhere else from your house.

Replacing our weather stripping was costly for six doors but we could feel the difference on our toes no more cold air leaking into the house and heat leaking out. Otherwise your house would explode. The width opening for the sliding door system may have been sized slightly too small during installation usually by a 1 4 1 2 which prevents the operating door from having enough room. Simply remove the corner pad s adhesive backing and stick the small square pad to the insides of your door frame at the crucial corners.

I plan to seal. If the door trim overlaps the header strip you ll have to remove it. Start removing the header screws from that end. Most often these glass sliding doors are on the rear of the home and lead to a back yard or.

Open the patio door so the sliding door is in front of the stationary section. Keep your blinds closed. Sliding doors come in a variety of types. Then remove the entire header strip.

The gutters are clear and the patio is level. Some are pocket doors which are interior sliding doors that are concealed in a wall pocket when open. Blocking the direct force of the wind from blowing against your sliding glass door helps. During winter months cold air radiates through the thin glass and cools the house causing the furnace to work longer.

The strips are moisture and chemical resistant don t contract with cold temperatures and add an air proof seal in channels and around the sliding glass door sash. By tightening up the rest of your house you may find that it feels less drafty near your sliding glass door.