Garage door bottom seal ideas

[zkling]

Not my garage, single stall Wayne Dalton garage door with Wayne Dalton opener. Can't keep the rain out. I put a new bottom seal on this past summer (got it at lowes befored I realized Wayne Dalton used a bead type seal). Made a jig to cut the T seal into a bead edge and got the seal installed. Adjusted closed travel and it sealed great. Now it has gotten colder (garage is un heated and gets alot of cross wind) it is starting to leak at one side, the always problem side. I took a level across the floor and it is quite literally like a low frequency wave. Worse on the far left hand side (where it leaks). ~~~~~~~~

After a bit of reading online about using a piece of hose to stiffen it up I used a piece of thin wall vinyl (3/4x5/8), seemed to have the right compression in the store. Lubed it up and slide it down the entire length of the U seal. Too stiff. Actually made it worse. I was afraid to adjust the down force so much to compress it. The top panel already has a wrinkle in it from years ago.

Removed that and cut a short section for just the problem area. Still too stiff. :

Thinking of using backer rod next, stiff enough but not as stiff as the vinyl? Good idea, bad idea? Basicaly a homemade snirt stopper.

They do NOT want a threshold on the floor. Any other options or ideas?

 

[zkling]

Is the pipe wrap that much different than the backer rod? Wouldn't the round rod be easier to feed through vs a trap shaped cut of pipe wrap? I already smeared silicone in portions that had divots to help get a rubber to rubber seal but still no help on the one side. I need something that will compress to fill the dips on the far end. And I did check to make sure that the door is level end to end.

I called the local wayne dalton place but they didn't know of any wider bottom seals wider than the common ~3.5" one I used. I've seen some online for order.

 

[Platonic Solid]

This claims: "Seals out drafts, dust, dirt, water and insects.
Designed to compensate for uneven concrete or uneven door".
(No idea if it lives up to its claims)

 

[zkling]

This claims: "Seals out drafts, dust, dirt, water and insects.
Designed to compensate for uneven concrete or uneven door".
(No idea if it lives up to its claims)

That's a nail on seal for a wooden door.

 

[lmalcomb]

Use signal bell hose O'Reilly auto parts carries it in the gates brand.

 

[DeliveryGuy]

Your bottom seal may not be the problem.

Maybe someone said this already, but make sure your side weatherstrip touches your door when the wind blows.

Go outside, push in on the door, and if you make a gap between the door and the weatherstrip, then water can run down the sides and pool in the corners. Once it gets in under the side weatherstrip, the water wicks across the width of the door, making it look like the bottom seal is leaking.

 

[66HertzClone]

The floor of my garage bows up under all three doors so there is a gap on each end of all the doors, some are nearly an inch. I'm toying with buying a 2 x 4 made from plastic then using a laser measure the drop every inch. Plot that on the 2 x 4 and cutting to make a filler. Drill through this and secure to the slab with screw or anchors.

 

[wssix99]

If you have water coming in, it sounds like your sill is not sloped very aggressively or you don't have a dust lip molded in to your sill.

If that is the case, weatherstripping won't help the problem. You'll need a metal or rubber threshold, which you can caulk and seal to your sill/floor:

 

[mango_420]

Where is the cheapest place to get a metal threshold?

 

[zkling]

Thanks for the idea. I went with 3/4" backer rod and touched up the silicone smear. Looks promising with a garden hose lite mist, but only time and heavy rain will tell. The entire garage floor is in really poor shape. Not sure what their future plans are.

The problem was 2 fold. 1st, the length was wavy and needed to get the seal down in the valleys (hence something deformable, backer rod). 2nd the concrete surface was very rough, like you would see on a step for traction and water was slightly seeping in the low spots. The silicone smear Ducksface suggest was a good method to get a seal-able mating surface without adding the obstruction of a threshold.

 

[Cyberbear]

For those without a slopping edge opening under their doors, I've seen where several saw cut slots were cut under the door to stop the rain water. That slot had several drainage slots cut that let the accumulated water drain out of the door slot to the outside of the building.
Those slots along with a rubber flashing kept any wind driven rain from entering the building. This may be an option depending on your particular application.
Personally, I prefer to have the slopping edge opening done at each exterior door when the slab is poured and finished. This requires no seal at all and has worked very well for my shop's five exterior doors.