Garage Door Seals vs Threshold Seals
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Garage Door Seals vs Threshold Seals: What's the Difference?
A garage door seal attaches to the door panel and moves with it. A threshold seal is fixed to the floor and stays in place. They close gaps in different ways and are most effective when used together.The terms garage door seal and threshold seal are sometimes used interchangeably, but they describe two distinct products that work differently and attach to different parts of the door assembly. Understanding the difference ensures you buy the right product for your specific situation.
Garage Door Seals (Attached to the Door)
A garage door seal is fitted to the door panel itself and moves with the door when it opens and closes. Bottom door seals attach to the lower edge of the panel and hang down to make contact with the floor when the door is closed. Side seals attach to the door edge or frame and create a contact seal along the vertical sides. Top seals close the gap at the top of the door where it meets the frame. All of these seals are part of the door assembly and lift away from the floor or frame when the door opens.
Threshold Seals (Fixed to the Floor)
A threshold seal is a strip fixed permanently to the floor at the base of the garage door opening. It creates a raised barrier that the bottom of the door panel presses down onto when closed. The threshold seal stays on the floor when the door opens and is driven over when a car enters. It is designed to be robust enough to withstand vehicle traffic and flexible enough to provide a weathertight seal when the door closes against it.
Key Practical Differences
Because a door seal moves with the door, it is always in the correct position relative to the door edge and accommodates the door's movement path. A threshold seal, being floor-fixed, requires the door to close precisely onto it each time. For canopy-mechanism up-and-over doors, where the bottom of the door swings outward slightly as it closes, the threshold seal position must account for this movement arc to ensure the door closes cleanly onto it.
Threshold seals can compensate for uneven floors by providing a consistent raised sealing surface. Door seals cannot easily compensate for floor unevenness because they are constrained to follow the door panel's edge.
Using both a bottom door seal and a threshold seal together provides the most effective weatherproofing at the base of an up-and-over door. The threshold seal creates a consistent sealing surface; the bottom door seal closes onto it. This combination is particularly effective in exposed locations and for doors where the floor was previously uneven or where water ingress has been a persistent problem.
Summary
Door seals attach to the door panel and move with it; threshold seals are fixed to the floor. Door seals accommodate door movement; threshold seals compensate for floor unevenness. Used together they provide the best weatherproofing at the door base. When buying, confirm which type you need: if the fixing point is the door panel, it is a door seal; if it is the floor, it is a threshold seal.
Northwest Garage Door Spares stocks seals for all major up-and-over garage door brands. Find your replacement seal today.
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