It is frustrating if warm/cool air escapes from your house even though you keep all the doors and windows tightly shut all the time. What you need to know is the importance of weather stripping your new home.
- Is it useful?
- What’s the best way to do it?
- How expensive is it?
These are some of the questions that come to your mind when someone suggests you to get it done in your newly built house.
Let’s have a look at the answers
The Importance of Weather Stripping Your New Home – Cozy and Comfortable
Essentially weatherstripping is a technique to prevent the inside air – whether it is warm or cold – from escaping out. Even when you keep your windows and doors shut all the time, there is a chance that air is still flowing out.
This sounds crazy, isn’t it?
It leaks through the movable parts of these doors and windows, even when they are closed. Thus, you might be losing out on all the treated air without knowing.
You can check it all by yourself:
Simply close the door on a piece of paper. Then try pulling the paper out, without opening it. If the paper slips out easily, then you need new weather stripping for your door.
Another way to check is if you can see light from the bottom of the corners of the door. Or, if you feel a draft when standing close to it, then your door surely needs to be sealed.
Furthermore, there is a simple way to check your windows too. Run a wet hand on the movable area of your closed window. If it is not sealed properly, you will feel a draft on your moist hand.
You Need It – for All the Right Reasons:
The benefits of weather stripping outweigh the costs by a huge margin.
You might be wondering how:
Saves You Big Bucks
Every month you spend a good sum of your hard-earned money paying those utility bills. A major chunk of this amount comes from running the HVAC system which is a prerequisite in maintaining the indoor temperature.
It keeps your house comfortably cooler or warmer compared to the weather outside.
So, if you let the warm air leave your house through these leaks, you are not only wasting money but also wasting energy and compromising your comfort too.
And there is more to lose!
When warm air escapes, it leaves moisture on the pipes and can damage the insulation. You will end up paying a lot more in fixing these than what you would pay for weather-stripping. It would keep your house strong and steady in the long run.
No Budget Constraints
Even though it sounds like it would cost you a fortune to seal all those doors and windows around the house, it doesn’t. It is quite inexpensive. Also, you do not always need to hire professionals for this. Most of the weather-stripping tasks are DIY and can be completed on a low budget too.
So how do you go about it?
- Start with identifying the doors and windows that need to be stripped.
- Measure the boundaries of each of these to calculate the total length of stripping that you need to buy. Add a few extra feet or inches to this to allow for wastage.
- Opt for the right material
- Pick the best option according to the location
Material – the Real Deal Maker
Choosing the correct material is critical. The most common ones are:
- Reinforced foam – not very expensive, but installation is difficult
- Plain Felt – low priced, but not resistant to moisture and friction
- Vinyl or Metal – reasonably priced and scores high on durability and effectiveness; but not suitable for corners
This is not an exhaustive list of weatherstripping types. You can see the complete list, along with their uses and benefits.
It Is All About Location
The type of material you choose is directly related to the place where you want to use it.
Keep in mind:
- Exposure to moisture
- Exposure to temperature
- Friction and abrasion
- Wearing off due to location
Door bottoms, for instance, are exposed to considerable wear and tear. Thus, you should pick a more resistant material for these.
Windowpanes need to be stripped with a water-resistant material as these are prone to get affected by moisture. Thus, you need to carefully analyze these factors to ensure that it works for your house in the best way.
Not to miss!
Definitely, you need to do weather stripping on your front door as this is one of the major points where air can leak from. And this is most prone to wear and tear too. The bottom rubs off the carpet and gets eroded by feet too.
Again, many options to choose from – Door sweep, vinyl, or V strip. You pick what meets your requirements and fits your budget.
Tips and Tricks
To ensure your weather-stripping efforts pay off, here are a few pointers to remember:
- Clean and dry the place where you plan to apply the weather stripping
- The temperature should be greater than 20 degrees Celsius
- In order to avoid wasting your stripping material, make exact measurements
- It should be applied in such a way that it seals the opening but allows a smooth opening and closing of the window or the door
- Keep it tight on the corners
- Do not make joints in the strip. It should be a single strip covering the entire gap.
Conclusion
No one can deny the importance of weather stripping your new home. Â Its benefits last for years, and you save a lot more than you spend. Hence it should be a definite part of your home improvement list.
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