Whatever weather you’re dealing with outside, from intense heat to sudden wind and rain, your commercial doors can’t escape it. Making your doors resistant to the elements and easier to use during bad weather can benefit your organization. You can save money on your cooling and heating bills, and make your building entryway more appealing and practical for customers, staff and guests. Here are some ways to weatherproof your commercial door.
Replace Your Weather Stripping
Most businesses have weather stripping on their doors but haven’t replaced it in some time. Due to the nature of weather stripping, it gets damaged and becomes much less effective quickly. Weather stripping is made of a soft, flexible material. It is designed to precisely fit any gaps in your doors. Yours might be made of rubber, felt, foam, a fabric-like strip, or other material. If there are any gaps in it, or if it doesn’t fit quite right, it is time to replace it.
Install a Door Sweep
Door sweeps have two jobs: they seal the bottom of your door against the hot or cold air outside and they protect the bottom of the door from debris. The sealing function helps you keep outside air outside, so your air conditioner or furnace doesn’t have to work so hard. Also, bristle door sweeps specifically will reduce the friction on the bottom of the door, which can make it easier to open.
Consider Awnings and Rain Protection
When it is raining out, standing in your doorway waiting for someone to open it, or trying to get the lock open or trying to balance a package, is not pleasant. Adding an awning over your door can make the front steps sheltered and allow guests, customers and staff to wait happily in bad weather.
Alternatively, you can install automatic doors to help people get in faster, or you can install an access control system that will be more convenient to use.
Explore Your Sun Protection Options
When it is very hot outside, your front door is the last threshold before the relief of the conditioned air inside. But does the door help you or hurt you? If your front-of-house door is made of glass or has large glass inserts, it might let in a lot of heat. You have options to reduce this heat, including:
- Add blinds or curtains
- Add a glass tint
- Add an awning for shade
- Add window wallpaper
- Add a vinyl sign that covers all of the glass
Adjust Hinges, Door Closers and Hardware
Simple adjustments to your hardware can make your doors much better at resisting wind and rain. For example, making sure that your hinges are spaced and installed perfectly will eliminate gaps and make the door more air-tight. Adding an automatic door closer will help keep the door closed in bad weather.
Add Welcome Mats
When it is raining, you can make use of welcome mats or any kind of carpeting both on the inside and the outside of the door. The mats can soak up water from people’s shoes and keep the inside of your property drier.
Get in touch with us, if you want to learn more on how to protect your commercial doors in El Dorado Hills or beyond.
