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BroughdaleGarage Door SpecialistsOpen 24/7 (226) 781-8703
Gloved hands setting a black rubber seal along the base of a white garage door, holding a ribbed strip over paving stones. — Garage Door Bottom Seal Replacement, London

Repairs · London

Garage Door Bottom Seal Replacement

One end of the bottom seal has slipped out of its channel and hangs down like a loose shoelace. Each time the door closes it folds under, each time it opens it flaps, and the gap beside it keeps growing.

In plain words

The bottom seal is one part of a weather line that runs all the way round the door. Vinyl-finned stop moulding seals the jambs and header, the section joints have their own tongue-and-groove or shiplap seals, and a threshold seal glued to the floor can meet the bottom strip where a slab slopes the wrong way. Bottom seal replacement addresses the piece that takes the most punishment, and while the technician is there the rest of the perimeter is looked over. Where the side or top strips are torn or shrunk, doing them in the same visit gives a garage sealed on all four edges rather than three.

Sound familiar?London

The call
After a spring rain there is a puddle inside the door that reaches the tires. The driveway slopes toward the garage, the slab has a low corner, and the flattened old seal is not making up the difference.

NextHow the visit goes

Garage Door Bottom Seal Replacement · London

How the visit goes

Hands driving a screw with a yellow cordless impact driver into a perforated steel track beside a white garage door panel. — London
  1. Scene 1

    Reading the gap with the door closed

    The assessment starts with the lights off and the door down. From inside, the technician looks along the floor line for daylight and notes where it shows: a thin line the full width, a wedge at one corner, or a patch in the middle. A straightedge laid across the threshold shows whether the slab is flat or dished, and a hand run along the seal feels where it touches and where it hovers. Photographs of the worst spots are taken so you can see what is being fixed. This map of the gap tells the technician how tall the new seal needs to be and whether anything other than the seal is contributing.

  2. Scene 2

    Taking the old seal out

    With the door secured, the ends of the old strip are freed from any caps or folds and the seal is drawn out of its channels from one end. A supple seal slides; a hardened one is coaxed with a flat blade and a little silicone, or cut into short lengths and removed a piece at a time. Old nails come out of a wood rail with a claw. The channels are then cleaned of grit, rust flakes, salt crust and any remnants of the previous strip with a wire brush and a scraper, because a clean channel is what lets the new seal feed through without tearing.

  3. Scene 3

    The rest of the weather line

    With the bottom sealed, any remaining draft points to the perimeter: the vinyl fin on the stop moulding at the jambs and header, and the joints between sections. These were looked over during the visit and anything torn, shrunk or missing was pointed out. Replacing perimeter stripping is straightforward work that can be planned for a mild day. Together with a sound bottom seal and, where the floor calls for it, a threshold, the garage gains a stronger barrier against wind, water and cold on all four edges, and an attached garage can stay closer to the temperature of the house.

In the van

  • Bulb or U-style bottom seal
  • Self-drilling retainer screws
  • Track clamps
  • Nail-on vinyl strip for wood doors
  • Bead-style bottom seal

What shapes the quoteBroughdale Garage Door Specialists

Season and conditions
A seal frozen to the slab, ice at the threshold or working in deep cold adds time for freeing the old strip, clearing the line and keeping the new roll warm enough to feed.
Retainer replacement
If the aluminum or plastic retainer is bent, spread open or corroded, a new extrusion, fasteners and the time to fit it straight along the rail are added as their own line.
Wood door nail-on strip
A wood door with a nailed strip takes a different product and more fastening time than a channel seal, and adding a retainer to a wood rail is a further option to consider.

FeesSame any hour

Have it ready

Before you call · 0 / 3

(226) 781-8703

Homeowners ask

What happens during the visit?

The technician maps the gap with the door closed, checks the door is level and the bottom section straight, and identifies the retainer and profile. The opener is disconnected and the door clamped at working height. The old seal comes out, the channels are cleaned, a new seal is cut and fed in, and any retainer work is done. The door is then closed under power, the opener reset, and the reversing and photo-eye tests run.

How long does a bottom seal last?

Several years is typical, with the range set by exposure. A door facing south or west, a threshold that is wet and salted all winter, and a seal that freezes to the floor a few times a season all shorten the life. A shaded door on a dry slab with a wipe of silicone each autumn can go much longer. The condition of the strip, rather than its age, is what to watch.

How do I know which size and type my door takes?

Look at the end of the bottom section for the metal or plastic strip that holds the seal. Count the channels, note whether they are slotted or rounded, and measure the distance between them and the width of the door. A photo of the end of the retainer and one of the seal's cross-section is usually enough for the technician to identify the profile before the visit and bring the right roll.

Londoninformation

MiddlesexOntario

Town
London, Middlesex
In business
31 years
Hours
Open 24/7
Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
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.

  • 52 in 100 homes · older homes
  • About 52% of homes in London were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.Original openers in older neighbourhoods often predate photo-eye sensors and rolling-code remotes. Bringing one up to date means a quieter motor, sensors that stop the door for a child or pet, and remotes that cannot be copied from the driveway, all installed in a single visit.
  • Single-detached houses make up about 49% of homes in London (2021 Census).In mixed neighbourhoods, noise matters differently from one address to the next. A detached house with a bedroom above the garage and a townhouse with a neighbour through the wall both benefit from a belt-drive opener and nylon rollers, and we explain the difference either way.

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile

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On-site assessment

Request a visit.

One end of the bottom seal has slipped out of its channel and hangs down like a loose shoelace.

(226) 781-8703, open 24/7.