5 Easy Ways to Winterize a Sliding Patio Door

During winter, people prefer to stay inside a warm and comfortable home until it’s summer again. But to get this comfort, you need to winterize your home to keep it warm during this season.

Even though it’s crucial to winterize your door, people tend to ignore the option if they have a patio door. Winterizing your patio door will help prevent cold air from getting in, thus keeping your interior space with a moderate warmth. The good a thing, it’s very easy to carry out if you know how to winterize a patio door. 

In this article, we have put together the steps on how to winterize a patio door during the cold times.

Ways on How to Winterize A Sliding Patio Door

1: Take Out the Dirt on Sliding Door

Since it’s on the outside, patio doors tend to gather a lot of debris. Its large surface area attracts every dirt, leaves, or paper that the wind sweeps to it. Afterward, it stores these grime on its tracks. When you check the trail, you’ll be in shock with the amount of debris packed on the door in a short while.

However, to keep the sliding door functioning throughout the year, you need to remove dirt and clean the patio track. It doesn’t take much time to sweep out the trash or blow it off with a mechanized tool to save time during winterization. If you fail to do this, the sand will clog the door’s path and won’t close well.

Moreover, when the door does not close off properly, small breezes pass through the gap into the house. These drafts will make your home cool instead of warm because of the cold air coming through the sliding glass door.  But to avoid this, you have to vacuum the patio door’s track to remove dirt before winter arrives.

Also, you should repeat this process several times before the cold climate sets in. Although it still depends on how often you enter or go out through the sliding door.

2: Install New Weather Stripping

Put new weather stripping or replace the old one to prevent cold air from coming through the sliding glass door. This tool is a black rubber substance that helps to seal the space when the door shuts. We have various types of weather stripping to choose from, including V-strip, felt, or foam tape. Here’s how to fix drafty sliding glass doors.  

• Endeavor to check these different stripping on your door to know the one that fits best. When you’re sure of the top choice, go to the state and purchase it; then follow the guidelines below.
• When you open the door, check the rim where the stripping fits during the closure
• If it’s damaged, take it out and install the new one you got from the store
• Lay it into the channel meant to hold it and press it from the top to the bottom of the other way round.

3: Use a Plastic as Insulation

If you’re in a neighborhood that experiences harsh winter, you may need to install a plastic to increase insulation. This material helps to reduce heat loss through a sliding patio door. One of the most affordable stuff to use for insulation is the shrink wrap.

It’s easy to install and reduce breeze and your heating expenses. There aren’t so many sliding door insulation ideas, so if you can bear the mess, installing a film is not a bad idea. Below are the steps on how to insulate a sliding glass door. 

• Go to any home improvement store and buy a kit that contains all you need for the sliding glass door insulation. The plastic material should be transparent and allow the intrusion of light. However, it might prevent the free use of the door.
• Wipe the window surface clean and place a dual-side tape around it
• If necessary, cut the plastic down to size and affix the plastic to the tape from top to bottom
• Shrink the insulator and take off the wrinkles with a blow dryer.

4: Install Window Treatments and Insulated Drapes

We have various kinds of materials that help stop the cold air coming through sliding doors. Since glass doesn’t keep out heat on its own, it will be wise to invest in insulated sliding doors with drapes or curtains. You can also achieve this shut out with cellular blinds or blackout curtains through these steps;

• Select an insulating material ranging from draperies to window quilts and shades with a honeycomb feature
• Go through the product manual to know the R-value of each model; the highest is the most insulated
• Ensure you close your window all through the winter period if it’s facing the north
• However, if the sun hits your window, try and open it to allow sunlight into the room

5: Install Rigid Foam Insulation Panels

Install panels of rigid foam insulation to prevent the development of frost inside sliding glass doors. It’s easy to attach these panels on a poorly-insulated glass entry since it’s lightweight. The steps below will help you make a perfect installation.

• Get a thin panel of rigid foam insulation so that the process will be more comfortable. Place it to cover the side of the window that doesn’t open or the whole thing.
• Take the dimension of the sliding door and choose the best length and width for your insulating panel.
• See to it that the panel is sitting on the ground as well as extending above the door frame. Ensure that it expands beyond the window’s sides and stops at the part of the door that doesn’t open.
• Afterward, shaken the panel to size by cutting out the excesses. Also, cut out four one by three-inch woods the same size as the sides of the board.
• Join the woods together to make a frame, then affix it to the panel using a glue.
• Place the panel on the window after painting it with a neutral color. Ensure that all sides fit in well.

Why You Need to Winterize a Sliding Patio Door

Sliding doors add beauty to our homes as well as allow light into the room. However, they also let in drafts and cause loss of heat from its gaps. So, you need to winterize the sliding glass door to increase comfort during the winter months.

Also, since glass is not a good insulator, you can maximize your energy bills by winterizing it. Untreated entries lead to loss of heat from the room and increase your heating cost. Moreover, it’s most inconvenient if the door is by the dining or kitchen.

Final Word

Winter months is big problem for those that don’t know how to seal sliding doors or winterize it.  You need to make your entry a waterproof sliding door to reduce the drafts that go through it. But to pull this off, you need detailed knowledge of how to make a sliding door airtight. 

Our guide above on how to winterize a sliding patio door makes the process easier. Thus, you should

• Take out the debris from the tracks
• Ensure you get the right measurement of the door sides before getting an insulating panel
• Install a weather stripping

Kindly leave your questions in the comment section if you have any.