A drafty entrance door in your home can increase your utility bill during the warm or cold climate seasons. Not only can a drafty door make your home less energy efficient, drafts of cold or hot air coming into your home can make for an unpleasant experience for the occupants inside. Taking care of any unwanted drafts caused by an entrance door can be achieved with a few simple tools and a couple of inexpensive products.
Step One
Open up your door and check the hinge screws for looseness. Loose hinges will often cause the door to sag, creating large gaps between the door and frame while allowing drafts into your home. Tighten up any loose screws with an appropriate size screwdriver and recheck the door for any gaps.
Step Two
Close your door and measure from the top left-hand corner to the top right-hand corner of the doorjamb (from the inside of your home) and mark the width of your door down on a piece of paper, with a pencil. Measure from the bottom of the door to the inside of the top doorjamb and write the measurement down as well.
Step Three
Utilize the door measurements when shopping for an appropriate weather stripping kit for your entrance door. If you cannot find a weather stripping kit that shares the precise measurements needed for your door, purchase a slightly over-sized kit.
Step Four
Cut the shorter length of weather stripping that came with your kit to fit the width of your door, using the measurements you wrote down earlier and a hacksaw. Do not cut off the 90-degree angled ends of the weather stripping pieces, as these provide a tighter fit when butted together; only cut off portions of the weather stripping that feature a straight cut when sizing for appropriate fitment.
Step Five
Cut the longer length of weather stripping that came in your kit to the appropriate size needed to fit the height of your door, using the measurements you had written down on your piece of paper.
Step Six
Install the short weather stripping piece to your door’s top side, up against the doorjamb, according to the manufacturer's instructions. You will need a hammer to secure the weather stripping piece with nails that are included with your kit. Install the longer weather stripping piece on the side of the door that has the doorknob, according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Step Seven
Open and close your door repeatedly to make sure that the weather stripping does not bind between the doorjamb and door itself. Check to make sure that the weather stripping on both sides of the door adequately covers any cracks between the door and doorjamb. Make readjustments to the weather stripping if necessary.
Step Eight
Install a door sweep to the bottom of your entrance door in order to prevent any drafts from coming in your home. The door sweep kits install similarly to weather stripping kits and may require you to do the appropriate length depending upon the size of your door.