Insulating Around A Sliding Glass Door

The panel should sit on the floor and extend above the top of the door frame.

Insulating around a sliding glass door.

Installing insulation over the stationary glass panel and weatherstripping between the insulation and the sliding glass door effectively seals the sliding glass door from the inside. Measure the sliding door and decide how tall and wide to make your insulating panel. To the masking tape i have four small strips of self sticking velcro. Glass or patio doors especially sliding glass doors lose much more heat than other types of doors because glass is a very poor insulator.

Remove the sliding doors from the tracks. The sliding doors have small wheels on them that fit on a track in the unit. To achieve the greatest efficiency i ve read that the insulation should be 1 from the glazing on the glass and by my measurements the glass panes do sit in the middle of our heavy 2 wooden door. The glass itself is a single pane so as you can imagine it isn t much of a barrier to cold air.

Double glazed inserts can be installed to existing sliding doors. Most modern glass doors with metal frames have a thermal break which is a plastic insulator between inner and outer parts of the frame. Measure the sliding window and determine the size of the insulating panel which should cover the top of the door frame down to the floor area. I cut it to fit the door and put a border of masking tape across the top of the plastic.

When debris gets trapped in this track or on the wheels it can cause holes in the natural insulation of the sliding doors. The simplest and easiest way to keep your sliding glass door from leaking is by keeping the track and rollers clean. Insulated drapes blackout curtains or cellular blinds are just some of the products that can be used to reduce energy loss through your sliding glass doors. It should go over the window side and the size should be enough to cover the whole window.

Watch this video to see how to do it. Replace existing curtains with insulating thermal curtains. When it gets really cold outside we have a piece of heavy duty clear plastic that we hang over our sliding glass door. The match to the velcro is on the woodwork of the door.

You will have to take the doors apart. Dirt gravel or other debris may prevent the door from sliding and sealing optimally. The insulating panel should be cut to the appropriate measurement taken.