You don’t have to put up with that cold breeze around your entry door. New weather stripping will stop those drafts and help your home feel cozier. If you want to know how to fix a drafty door, simply buy some new weather stripping and a door sweep, and you should be good to go. The door installation experts at PJ Fitzpatrick can teach you every step you need to know.

How to Fix a Drafty Door Step By Step

1. Examine the old, worn out weather stripping on your door to see what to buy.
   1. A steel entry door may have magnetic stripping on the knob side and compression-style stripping on the hinge side.
2. Check to see what kind of door sweep is fitted on the bottom.
3. Go to a home supply store and buy new materials similar to what you’ll be removing.
4. Close the door.
5. Tap out the hinge pins by hitting a nail or nail set on the bottom of the pin with a hammer.
6. Slide out the pins.
7. Open the door a little bit and then grab it and lift it off the hinges.
8. Set the door aside.
9. Pull off old weather stripping around the door frame.
10. If any small brads are holding stripping in place, simply tear the material off of the brads.
11. Slide a chisel between the door jamb and frame to cut through any brads that were holding old weather stripping.
    1. This step prevents the old brads from being in the way of the new weather stripping.
12. Measure the sides and top of the door frame.
13. Cut weather stripping to fit the three sides of the door.
14. Press new magnetic stripping along the jamb on the knob side and top.
15. Press compression stripping into the groove on the hinge side of the door frame.
16. Drive new 1-inch brads through the jamb to secure the new weather stripping.
17. Now set the door on a table or across sawhorses so that you can work on its bottom.
18. The old sweep might slide out or need to be pried loose with the chisel or utility knife.
19. Measure across the bottom of the door and cut the new door sweep to fit.
20. Place a bead of caulk along the bottom of the door.
21. Gently pound the new door sweep into place with a mallet.
22. Staple the ends of the door sweep to the door.
23. Place the door back on its hinges and put the hinge pins back in.
24. Open and close the door to see how the door sweep fits.
25. If it’s too tight or too loose, adjust the threshold.
26. Turn the threshold screws clockwise to tighten it down or counterclockwise to ease it upward.