How to Make Sliding Closet Doors Airtight

Sliding closet doors have their advantages, such as the smaller amount of open space they take up compared to swinging closet doors. However, by their very design with a movable panel that slides past a fixed panel, sliding doors have openings that allow in air. This situation also allows in cold drafts during cold months, while allowing heat to escape around the door panels. Seal the space around and between the door panels and eliminate these drafts.

Tape measure
Foam weatherstripping
Utility knife
Felt weatherstripping
Stapler

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the doorjamb’s height. Hold the tape measure against the bottom of the side doorjamb and measure up to the overhead casing. This ensures you obtain enough weather stripping.
- 2
  Position the end of a length of foam weather stripping in a top corner of the door opening against the side jamb. Unroll the weather stripping down along the doorjamb, stopping at the floor. Cut the weather stripping with a utility knife. Do the same thing on the opposite side jamb.
- 3
  Position a length of felt weather stripping on the top end of the moving panel of the sliding doors, so that the weather stripping overlaps the gap between the moving and stationary panels, from top to bottom.
- 4
  Unroll the felt weather stripping down to the bottom of the doors and cut the weather stripping to the correct length with a utility knife.
- 5
  Staple the weather stripping onto the edge of the moving door panel. Install each staples parallel to the length of weather stripping, with one every few inches.

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