How To Install Door Sweeps: Complete Instructions

Installing Your Door Sweep

A. Slide-On door sweeps:

Open your door and grab the end of your old door sweep with your fingers or needle nose pliers and pull it out.  If you have trouble sliding in the new door sweep, try a little liquid soap on the top at the beginning of the track to make it slide in easier.

B. Drive-On door sweeps:

Open your door and pull or pry the sweep downward, removing the barbs on the sweep from the slots on the underside of the door. Install your new sweep by pushing the sweep in. If you have trouble installing with the door on the hinges, you might have to take the door off of the hinges. 

C. Wrap-Around door sweeps: (see installation in part 3 of weatherproofing video)

Open the door and remove the old sweep. If the old sweep is screwed or otherwise tightly fastened to the bottom of your door, you may need to remove the door from hinges. Slide the new sweep on, using a block of wood or a hammer as needed to tap the sweep into place. Trim excess with scissors, shears, or a small hand-saw. Adjust the sweep up/down as needed to tightly seal (overlap about 1/8") against the top of your sill. Install screws on inside of home, drilling pilot holes as needed (especially if you have a steel door). We recommend flat head 1/2" long screws. For wood or fiberglass doors, use pan head wood screws, course thread. For steel doors, use sheet metal pan head screws.

D. Staple-On door sweeps:

To install, first take the door off its hinges and lay flat. Then remove the old sweep from the bottom of your door and clean the bottom of the door. Next apply 2 beads of silicone caulking to the top of the new sweep. Press the new sweep on the door bottom, the alignment lip should rest flush against the interior door face. Wipe free any excess caulking. Secure new sweep in place with ~3-5 staples or tacks. Rehang door on its hinges and you are finished!

Maximizing the Life and Effectiveness of Your Door Sweep

Here are some ideas to extend the life of your door sweep.  When installing a new sweep, we recommend you take a look at your door to see if there might be adjustments that you could make to optimize your sweep’s performance.

1) Check that your door is square

A door sagging in its frame will quickly wear out its sweep.  So, first, you should make sure your hinge screws are tight. If a hinge jamb has separated at the top from the stud even a small amount (less than 1/8”), your door can lean toward and rub too tightly against the threshold at the bottom lock side of the door, and wear out the sweep prematurely. If this is the case with your door, you should firmly tighten the top hinge screws, and/or replace the outside screws in the top hinge closest to the weather stripping with 2 longer screws (2-1/8" long) to go through the hinge, jamb, and into the stud behind your jamb.

If your door is rubbing too hard against the threshold closer to the hinge jamb, you may need to lower the adjustable top strip on your sill (threshold). You should check to see if your door is hanging square within your jambs. Hopefully tightening your hinge screws helps your door hang square, but if not, then you need to either use hinge shims or rework the jambs to prevent excessive pressure and accelerated wear on the sweep.

2) Adjust your sill

If your sill is adjustable, you should check to see if you need to adjust it down to give the sweeps a little more room. If the sweep fits too tightly against the threshold, it will tear quickly. A good rule of thumb is that you should have room enough for one playing card or dollar bill above your sill but beneath your door and be able to pull the card or bill out from various spots under the closed door with a little back pressure, but it should not be firmly stuck.

4) Remove debris

You should also look to see if you have any debris caught under the door that could be rubbing and wearing the sweep. A rock or even a small pebble can cause a tear. It is a good idea to keep debris swept away from the threshold to prevent anything getting caught under the door and tearing the sweep.

5) Check if your pets are tearing sweep

Last, some people have pets that tear at sweeps. For this situation, usually customers just opt to replace their sweeps more often.

Questions? Email us at [email protected]