How to Stop Door Drafts Around Entry Doors

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 10:24:52 GMT

Learn how to remove old, damaged weather stripping around a steel entry door and replace it with new magnetic weather stripping and a new door sweep.

STEP 1
Remove the door, then replace all weather seals.
”Unzip“ the old, damaged door weather stripping, pulling it through the brads that hold it in.

STEP 2
Cut the brads
Cut off the old brads or push them all the way back into the groove with an old chisel.

STEP 3
Attach new weather stripping
Cut the new weather stripping to length and reinstall it, pinning it with new brads positioned near the old ones.

STEP 4
Attach new sweep
Peel out the old door sweep and caulk the ends of the door frame. Tap in the replacement sweep and staple the ends with 1/2-in. staples or the fasteners provided with the sweep.

STEP 5
Adjust threshold
Adjust the door threshold with a No. 3 Phillips screwdriver. Move it up or down until the door closes smoothly with no light seeping through.

With heating costs going through the roof, here’s an easy way to keep heat from slipping out your doors, too. Take 30 minutes and replace the weather stripping and door sweeps around your steel entry doors. Plan to do this project on a warm day since you’ll have to remove the doors. Steel doors use a compression-style strip for the hinge side and a magnetic one for the knob side and the top. But look at the door and confirm the style of weather stripping on all three sides and the type of door sweep before you head to the store. You’ll find replacement weather stripping in a variety of lengths and colors at home centers and hardware stores.

Electrician Billings MT

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 10:24:26 GMT

Use this easy method to install a new electrical outlet without a lot of wire pulling.

STEP 1
Shut Off the Electrical Outlet
➠Turn off the power at the main panel. Find the correct breaker and turn it off.
➠Once you’ve determined the electrical outlet to use as a power source and shut it off, use an electronic stud finder to locate the studs on both sides.
➠You can put your new outlet anywhere between these two studs.
➠Unscrew the outlet and use a voltage tester to double-check that the power is off.
➠With either lead touching a ground wire (bare copper), touch the other lead first to the neutral terminals (silver colored), then to the hot terminals (gold colored).
➠If the light glows with either contact, the circuit is still live.
➠Hold the face of the new electrical box against the wall where you want it to go, and trace around it with a pencil.
➠Cut out the hole with a drywall saw. Pro tip: Be sure to buy a “remodeling” box that can be secured to the drywall, not one that must be mounted on a stud.
➠Next, using a screwdriver, unscrew the existing outlet on the other side of the wall outlet from its box and punch out one of the knock-outs at the back of the box.

STEP 2
Feed New Cable into the Wall
➠Feed a length of new cable through one of the knock-out holes at the back of the existing box (punch out the hole with a screwdriver).
➠Feed through enough cable to reach the new box plus an extra foot.
➠Use 14-gauge wire for a 15-amp circuit.

STEP 3
Rewire the Existing Electrical Outlet
➠Connect the wires of the new cable to the existing wires.
Strip about 10 inches of plastic sheathing from the new cable to expose the black, white and copper wires.
➠Run the new cable, with sheathing, at least two inches up inside the box, and double over the excess wires to help hold the cable in place.
➠Strip 5/8-in. of insulation off the ends and connect the wires from the new cable to the existing bundles — white to white, black to black, ground to ground.
➠Use new wire connectors of adequate size for the four wires in each bundle.

STEP 4
Fish the Cable to the New Location
➠Mark the opening for the new box and cut it out with a drywall saw.
➠Fish for the new cable with a hook made from a wire coat hanger.
➠Pull the cable through the opening cut in the wall.
➠Then strip about nine inches of sheathing off the end of the cable. Insert the cable so the sheath extends about one inch into the box and mount the box in the wall.

STEP 5
Wire the New Electrical Outlet
➠Mount the new box in the opening.
➠Connect the new wires to the new outlet: white (neutral) wire to a silver-colored terminal screw; black (hot) wire to a gold-colored terminal screw; bare wire to the green grounding screw.
➠Make sure the cable sheath remains secured inside the box
➠Finally, call the electrical inspector to check your work.

a-superior-property-management

How to Stop Door Drafts Around Entry Doors

Learn how to remove old, damaged weather stripping around a steel entry door and replace it with new magnetic weather stripping and a new door sweep.

Electrician Billings MT

Use this easy method to install a new electrical outlet without a lot of wire pulling.