Having a glass door means your home is exposed to weather elements because glass is a considerably poor insulator. It means on a hot day, the glass will allow the penetration of solar energy into your home. On the other hand, on a cold day, glass allows the heat inside your home to escape.
It is, however, very possible to reduce the amount of heat that our home loses through the sliding glass door by replacing the doors with low-emissivity doors. The low-E doors have a unique coating, which helps in preventing the radiation of energy through the glass.
If you are a homeowner with no experience in carpentry, you will find it difficult to replace your sliding door broken glass. However, there are other ways of weatherproofing your sliding glass door, which will lower the level of energy lost through the door by a great margin.
Remove Debris To Waterproof A Sliding Door
Usually, the channels of the sliding glass door can accumulate debris and small stones, especially coming from shoes as people walk past the sliding glass door. Whenever you pull the door over the debris, it gets lifted in the track, thereby creating small crevices where the water can seep in.
Any tiny spaces are always going to lead to the loss of energy, and should, therefore, be prevented to control energy loss and to save you the cost of expensive door repair. Vacuuming inside the door channels will help you prevent the accumulation of debris in these channels.
If you have some problems with your sliding patio door, rollers or bolts or you want a professional to weatherproof patio door don't estimate to call (877) 299-9179 24/7.
Insulate With Compression Strips
Another option when it comes on how to weatherproof sliding glass doors is by using adhesive-backed rubber compression strips. Neoprene is the most widely used material in making these compression strips. You can always cut the strips to ensure they fit well in the length of your sliding door channel.
Other important characteristics of these strips include their resistance to moisture and chemicals. In cold temperatures, they remain unaffected-they don’t contract. Also, they provide a seal that ensures the channels and the area around the sash of the sliding glass door are airproof.
Install Weather Stripping
If you want to get rid of energy leaks and are perfectly weatherproof a sliding glass door, weatherstripping is one of the best means to achieve this. To reduce the energy lost through your sliding glass door, install the seal type weather stripping or brush fin between the sliding doors. Different varieties of weatherstripping:
- Foam-filled
- Felt
- V-strip
Synthetic brush filaments used in brush fin and fin are essential in restricting the flow of air in the space between the sliding doors. The brush of the fin seal has a Mylar ridge, which further aids in sealing.
Install Plastic Window Kits
Shrinkwrap is a polymer plastic that shrinks on exposure to heat. This is the idea behind the use of window insulation kits. You will cut plastic sheets that fit your door, then paste and hold them on the door frame using double-sided tape. Heating the surface with a drier will lead to the shrinking and tightening of the plastic. This way, it forms a barrier that is very energy efficient.
Use Second Barrier
Create a physical second barrier between you and cold and inclement weather: install heavy curtains over sliding glass doors or install storm doors on the outside, such as:
- Insulated curtains
- Cellular blinds
- Blackout drapes
Even regular curtains will prevent cold air from entering your home, but insulated curtains are absolutely optimal in cost and function.
Conclusion
It is very important to keep the condition of your sliding doors and the area around your sliding glass doors in good condition by constantly taking care of the condition by installing new weatherstripping, caulking gaps and vacuuming paths.
If you have questions about sliding glass doors or other ideas on how to keep your home warm in the winter, email us. We at 24hr Sliding Door Repair are always ready to help!