Sealing Up a Door for a Brick House

Current Doors

• When the door to a brick home allows cold air to enter during the winter or lets cool air out when the air conditioning is on, the problem is usually a leak around the door jamb. If the wooden door jamb isn't flush against the home's masonry walls, it will create cracks that allow air through. This can happen if the masonry begins to break down or if the wooden door jamb warps and shrinks. Caulking the space around the door is the best solution for sealing a door in a brick home that you sill need to use.

Old Doors

• Removing old doors that you no longer use and don't need in order to comply with fire codes permanently eliminates air leaks. It also gives your home a clean look without unnecessary doors to clutter the interior and exterior walls. Sealing up a brick home's door involves removing the door and the door jamb, then laying bricks. Laying new brick is more complicated and expensive than sealing doors up with caulk, but it also provides a long-term solution.

Materials

• Not every type of caulk will work on brick homes. Most manufacturers produce specialty caulk for materials such as brick, which will bond to the brick and mortar to form a strong bond. Most types of latex-based caulk will bond well to both wood and brick, making it an ideal choice for sealing up doors on brick homes. If you choose to brick up a door, you'll need a lime-based mortar and bricks that are a close match, in terms of size and color, to those that compose the rest of the home.

Process

• Sealing up a leaking door with caulk is as simple as running a bead of caulk along the joint between your door jamb and the brick wall. Laying new masonry is significantly more complex. It involves mixing mortar to exact specifications, then working quickly to install bricks using the right amount of mortar before the mix begins to harden. If you don't have experience with masonry or the ambitions to learn the process, you'll need to hire a professional.