Automatic Door Bottoms To Seal Your Tricky Doors

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Bottoms can be ugly or look great, and that often depends on your weather stripping. You know we are talking about door bottoms, right? The big box weatherstrips that seal exterior door bottoms really detract from the beauty of a door. I did not even realize automatic door bottoms existed until I started researching how to help sound proof a thick door I was installing. I needed to seal a transition area between rooms that was flat. I also wanted the seal to be minimally visible since it was going on a beautiful door. And the seal needed to drop about a half inch so the door would clear any carpet or throw rugs. These criteria meant the usual aluminum thresholds were not going to work. Plus, they would have been ugly on a vintage door. Thankfully, I found Zero International, makers of automatic door thresholds, among other devices that seal sound and weather. Their automatic thresholds come in several styles, including surface-mount, flush, and fully mortised. I chose the fully mortised option since it was the least visible on the door. Once installed, a little brass bolt pushes into the door jamb when the door closes. This mechanism then automatically drops a seal into place to firmly seal the door. Magic! They are also great for door transitions with granite or tile, where a threshold would be hard to install or aesthetically undesirable. Support beautiful bottoms and try one for your door today! The automatic door bottom I chose was about $70 directly from Zero International’s Western Distribution Center. They also have a dealer locator online.

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About Marc Lyman

Marc grew up under a brave single mom who "encouraged" home improvement on the family home. Early toddler gifts included a tool set, and even a cordless Bosch drill when cordless drills first came out. In grade school (give or take a few years), Marc's mom said, "We need to cut down some trees. . . . here's a chainsaw." A father figure also involved Marc in many home improvement projects, including a summer of home remodeling in Palo Alto, CA. Toss in some Obsessive Compulsive personality traits researching everything home improvement related. The end result: a genetically pre-disposed, socially sculpted home improvement machine! For his complete profile, please visit our About page. Really, it's worth it.

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