Question:
Anybody made a better seal for the bottom of a Schweiss bi-fold door?
My current idea is to form sheetmetal into a U channel and mount it
upside down along the full length of the bottom of the bi-fold door.
Then slip a long strip of non-memory sponge rubber into the upside
down U such that the edge of the rubber compresses between the
concrete floor and up into the U as the door touches down. I don't
know how much space to leave between the sheetmetal channel and the
floor nor whether to glue the rubber into the channel so it doesn't
fall out, etc.
I already welded flanges on the building's 2 vertical door frames to
allow compression of the same rubber between the vertical sides of the
door and the building. The bottom corners are still a challenge. The
rubber I'm thinking of is white and has an excellent recommendation
for springing back after months of compression.
Anybody have a better way?
Answer:
The guy that built my hangar used a bunch of pool noodles laid end to
end and held on by a peice of plastic tarpaulin material that wraps
around them and screws on to each side. It's quite an elegant and
cheap solution although he could have spent more time fitting the
corners. Water gets into the seal and drips out the ends when the door
is first opened .
They make a seal for home garage doors that are meant to be nailed on to the
jam, and seal against the garage door. It is a composite rubber?plastic
type stuff, and the rubber type flap is part of the molding. It seals very
nicely. Take a look at the stuff. You could fasten it with sheet metal screws, to
the door, while it is down.
I have a bi-fold type door with my Miracle Truss workshop. The door is 34
feet long. I used a piece of rubber sheet material about 8 inches wide and
34 feet long wrapped over a long piece of 3/4 inch car heater hose. The hose
will crush giving a very good seal at bottom of door and will spring back
into shape when door lifted. The sheet rubber was part of shop kit. The
heater hose costs about 50 cents a foot.
