Sound familiar?Wilson Heights
- The call
- A length of weatherstrip along the right jamb has pulled away, nails and all, and it slaps against the trim every time the wind picks up. The wood behind it is dark and soft where it meets the floor.
With the door closed and the garage lights off, a thin bright line runs down the whole left side of the opening. You can see the neighbour's fence through it.
In plain words
Around a garage door there are three seals: one on the bottom edge of the door, and two running up the sides and across the top of the opening. Those last two are the perimeter weatherstrip. They are fixed to the stop moulding on the jambs and header, and their flexible fin rests against the door face when it is closed, closing the gap between door and frame. Replacing them means fitting new lengths that meet the door evenly, cutting down how much wind, driven snow, dust, leaves and small animals get through. The bottom seal is handled as its own job, but the two are often done together.
Garage Door Perimeter Weatherstrip · Wilson Heights
How the visit goes
Scene 1
How the door sits in the opening
A perimeter seal can only follow a door that sits where the frame expects it, so the door is checked before any strip is ordered or cut. Each edge is checked for plumb, the gap to both jambs is compared, and the top section is watched as it meets the header to see whether it bows away or leans in. Rollers, hinges and the spacing of the vertical tracks are looked at because any of them can shift the door face toward one jamb and away from the other. Small corrections, such as re-setting a track bracket, are noted so the new seal is fitted to a door that closes square and stays that way.
Scene 2
Fastening that lasts through the seasons
Fasteners are chosen for the weather they will live in: galvanized or stainless trim nails, exterior screws where the stop is heavy or the wood is hard, and weatherproof staples only for a light fin on sound wood. They are spaced evenly so the strip stays straight between them, and a nail set is used so the heads sit flush without crushing the vinyl. In cold weather the lengths are kept warm in the van until the moment they are fitted, because cold vinyl is brittle and splits at the ends. Fasteners near the end of each piece go in a little further back for the same reason.
Scene 3
Slush, salt and the bottom of the jambs
The lowest part of each jamb is where the weather does its work, so a little attention there protects the whole seal. Push slush away from the jambs when clearing the driveway rather than piling it against them, and rinse the salt off the bottom of the stop on a mild day. Keep the joint between the jamb and the sill caulked so meltwater runs off the face instead of behind it. If a section of jamb was replaced, keep its paint or PVC surface intact. A dry jamb base holds its fasteners, and fasteners that hold keep the seal tight.
In the van
- Utility knife and mitre saw
- Flexible vinyl fin seal
- Galvanized or stainless trim nails
- Flat bar, hammer and nail set
- Silicone spray lubricant
What shapes the quoteArmour Heights Door Specialists
- Commercial or oversized openings
- Wider and taller commercial doors often carry an aluminum retainer with a rubber insert or a brush seal, and the material and fitting time differ from a residential vinyl seal.
- Removing the old stop and paint build-up
- Lifting a wood stop that has been painted for decades, scraping old adhesive and knocking down paint ridges takes longer than pulling a loose fin, and the time shows in the quote.
- Colour and profile
- Standard colours and fin widths are carried on the truck. A less common colour, an extra-wide fin or a commercial retainer with insert may be a special order, with the difference noted.
FeesSame any hour
Asked and answered
What information helps when I book?
The size of the door and whether it is single or double, where you see daylight or feel drafts, whether the existing seal is a strip on a wood stop or a one-piece moulding, the colour of the trim, whether the wood near the floor feels soft, and whether the garage is attached or heated. Photos of the closed door from inside with the lights off, and of each corner from outside, are very useful.
What colours does perimeter weatherstrip come in?
Standard ranges cover white, almond, brown, grey, black and a sandstone or clay tone, which between them match most trim, garage door and brickmould colours. The technician brings the colour that suits your trim once you describe it or send a photo. A one-piece vinyl stop is coloured through, so it does not show scratches, and a fin on a painted wood stop can be matched to the paint.
Why is there daylight on one side but not the other?
It can be either. Worn rollers, a track bracket that has shifted or a top section that bows can move the door face toward one jamb and away from the other, and a seal that is damaged, shrunk, the wrong size or set slightly off the door face shows the same way. The technician checks both the door's alignment and the seal itself, corrects what is out of true, then fits the new seal to a door that closes evenly.
Repair & Maintenance
- Garage Door Tune-UpTwice this week the door started closing, stopped a metre from the floor and reopened on its own.
- Off-Track Garage Door ResetThe rollers on the door have been squealing for months.
- Garage Door Panel ReplacementRust has crept along the bottom edge of the lowest section.
- Garage Door Bottom Seal ReplacementThere are mouse droppings along the wall behind the recycling bins, and at one bottom corner of the door the vinyl has a neat…
- Garage Door Manual Lock RepairThe T-shaped handle on the outside turns a full quarter, exactly as it has for twenty years, but nothing moves behind it.
Wilson Heightsinformation
TorontoOntario
Garage Door Perimeter Weatherstrip · Toronto, Armour Heights, Lawrence Heights, Lawrence Manor, Winston Park
- Town
- Wilson Heights, Toronto
- In business
- 14 years
- Hours
- Open 24/7
- Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
- Phone
- (289) 536-9773
- Visits
- On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.
2021 census: what it means at the door
Every square is one home in a hundred.
- 58 in 100 homes · older homes
- 23 in 100 homes · mostly attached
- About 58% of homes in Toronto were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.Wood door frames in an older house settle and swell over the decades, which can leave a door rubbing on one side. Rather than forcing the opener, the technician trues the tracks, adjusts the jamb seals and sets the door so it travels freely again.
- Single-detached houses make up about 23% of homes in Toronto (2021 Census).Where most homes are townhouses, condos or apartments, garage doors are often shared: a single overhead door or gate serving an underground or common garage. Those doors run on commercial operators built for constant use, and their upkeep is usually arranged through the building's management.
On-site assessment
Request a visit.
With the door closed and the garage lights off, a thin bright line runs down the whole left side of the opening.
(289) 536-9773, open 24/7.