Where are those leaves in your Wilmot garage coming from? How’s the weather stripping under your garage door?

Leaves on the concrete floor of your Wilmot garage can cause a slip hazard if they’re wet. Besides, when they’re wet, they’re so difficult to sweep up. You sweep but they stick to the floor and slide under the broom. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could keep them out of the garage?

As it turns out, for the most part, you can. Of course, when the garage door is wide open, the wind blowing through Wilmot is apt to blow leaves into your garage. But what about the leaves that seem to come in when the garage door is closed?

A garage door is designed to take a weather strip at the bottom so that the door can close tightly. There are a few designs of rubber stripping for the bottom of a garage door. In some cases, the weather strip is simply a flat strip of rubber with a lip on the outside. It’s about a quarter-inch thick and runs the length of the door. The lip is tipped downward so that, when the garage door closes, it is sure to push against the concrete and create a seal.

Other types are more effective. They’re generally the same but with different mounting methods. They employ what is essentially a tube of rubber at the bottom of the door. The tube is about an inch-or-so deep. Running from side to side at the bottom of the garage door, when the garage door comes down, the tube is pushed down onto the concrete creating an effective seal.

As with things rubber, the gasket at the bottom of your garage door will harden over time. Eventually, the hardened rubber is liable to crack. Cracks will grow and, eventually, pieces will break off. In the process, the integrity of the seal at the bottom of your Wilmot garage door will be lost.

A visual inspection of your garage door weather stripping will generally expose any problems. Check for cracks, breaks and hardness. Also, make sure the garage door is adjusted correctly so that the gasket fully engages with the concrete. Your probably want to check the gasket around the sides and top of your garage door, too. They help to seal out the elements.

Another indication of how your garage door weather stripping is doing is when you find leaves or water inside your garage. The weather in Wilmot is often brutal, especially with winter coming.