Garage door repair, Portland metro and Clark County
Garage door weather stripping, bottom seals, and thresholds for Portland rain
We replace garage door weather stripping, including bottom seals, retainers, and side and top stops, and fit slab thresholds for Portland-area and Clark County homes, tracing where the water gets in before we recommend a single part.
Updated
What you are seeing
Worn weather stripping shows up on the slab and along the edges of the door, usually like this.
- A wet stripe or a puddle across the slab after an overnight rain
- Daylight under the door or down the sides with the light off
- Leaves and grit piling up just inside the door
- The rubber strip at the bottom is flat, split, or sliding out of its channel
- Chewed seal corners and droppings near the door
- Water only on the low side, where the driveway tips toward the house
What we do on a weather seal visit
A seal visit starts by finding the leak and ends with a hose on the driveway, because a new strip on the wrong problem fixes nothing.
Find where the water actually gets in
We shut the door, switch off the lights and look for daylight along the bottom, both jambs and the header. Then we read the slab: stain lines, where puddles sit, which way the driveway falls, and whether a downspout empties toward the door. Water coming through a slab crack or a foundation wall is a different problem, and we say so.
Level the door and check where it stops
We confirm the bottom section sits level, both lift cables carry equal load, and the opener brings the door fully down, because a door that lands crooked leaves a wedge-shaped gap no strip can fill. If the close limit is off, we correct it so the new seal compresses evenly across the slab.
Replace the bottom seal, and the retainer if it is shot
The old strip slides out of its channel, or pries off a wood door with its nails. Aluminum retainers corrode white and pinch the slot, and one that has been driven over is usually bent, so a damaged retainer gets replaced. A sound one is cleaned, takes the new seal with a little soapy water, and gets its ends crimped.
Fit new stops on the jambs and header
We pull cracked side and top seals and probe the jamb wood underneath, since a stop needs solid wood to nail into. New vinyl stops go on so their soft flap just rests on the door face. Too tight and it drags on every cycle; too loose and wind pushes rain past it.
Glue a threshold where the slab needs one
On concrete that dips, cracks or falls toward the garage, a rubber threshold gives the door a raised lip to land on. We scrape and dry the slab, which in a wet November can take longer than the install, then mark the door line and bed the threshold in adhesive. Tires stay off it for the cure time on the label.
Prove it with the lights off and a garden hose
We close up and look for daylight again. Then you watch the slab from inside while we run a hose along the door bottom outside. Last, the opener runs several cycles and we set a board flat under the door to make sure it still reverses on contact, since a taller seal changes where the door meets the floor.
Where is the water getting in?
The pattern on the slab points to the seal that failed, and this is how the usual leaks read.
| What you see | What it usually means | What we fit |
|---|---|---|
| A wet line across the full width | Bottom seal flattened or split | New bottom seal, retainer if needed |
| Wet corners only | Seal ends short of the jambs, or worn side stops | Perimeter stops and closed corners |
| Water on one side after a windy storm | Rain driven past a stop that no longer touches the door | New side stop set to light contact |
| A gap wide at one end, tight at the other | Door hanging crooked, or a settled slab | Level the door, then a bulb seal or threshold |
| Water rising under a sound seal | Driveway falls toward the opening | Threshold seal, sometimes a drain at the apron |
| Damp patches away from the door | Water through a slab crack or the wall | No door part; we name the right trade |
Why seals wear out faster in Portland rain
Seals here sit in water for months, and the grit and cold that ride along with the wet are what flatten, crack and tear them.
Portland International Airport averages 36.92 inches of rain a year over 157 days with measurable precipitation, and November, December and January each bring more than 18 wet days. A strip pressed onto a damp slab night after night picks up sand and loses its shape.
On the east side of the metro, wind joins in. Cold east winds out of the Columbia River Gorge hit Troutdale, Camas and Washougal hard, and on January 13, 2024 the National Weather Service reported gusts over 50 miles per hour even in Portland. That drives rain sideways past any side stop that has pulled away.
Sloped lots are the other local pattern. Along the Alameda Ridge, in Alameda, Beaumont-Wilshire and Rose City Park, some driveways tip down to a garage set into the grade, sending runoff straight at the door.
Which seal fits an uneven slab or a sloped driveway?
A slab that dips or settled unevenly takes a taller bulb seal, and an approach that sheds water at the opening needs a threshold on the concrete too.
The bulb squashes flatter where the slab is high and fills the low spots, which a flat T-style strip cannot do. We measure the gap at several points across the width before choosing a profile.
A threshold works on the slab instead: its low rubber hump dams runoff and the door closes against it. When a steep approach funnels a whole driveway of water at the opening, a trench drain cut into the concrete by a flatwork contractor is the lasting fix.
Can a new seal keep mice and drafts out of the garage?
Yes, as long as the corners close up along with the bottom edge, since a mouse needs only a small gap at the jamb to get in.
Mice and rats can chew through plain vinyl. Where droppings or gnawed seal ends show up, we fit a steel-mesh-core seal with corner guards at the jambs and check the seam above the header too.
Drafts matter most under a bedroom or in a winter workshop. A full set of stops and a tight bottom seal stop moving air, though an uninsulated door still passes cold through its panels.
What changes the price
The posted price covers a new bottom seal on a single-car door with a reusable retainer, and these situations add lines to the quote.
- Double-wide doors, which take a longer seal
- A bent, corroded or discontinued retainer that has to be replaced
- Side and top perimeter stops
- A threshold seal, plus extra prep where old adhesive or paint has to come off the slab
- Rodent-resistant seals and corner guards
- Jamb repairs where a stop has nothing solid to nail into
When a repair stops making sense
A new seal only helps when the bottom of the door can hold it, so a rusted-through steel section or a wood rail soft enough to dent with a fingernail means pricing a new section and a new door side by side.
The reverse case comes up too: a sound door with a flattened strip. Nobody needs a new door to stop a draft, and a seal swap on a healthy door is one of the smallest jobs we do.
weather seal: common questions
How long does a garage door bottom seal last in Portland weather?
There is no fixed lifespan, so replace it once it is flattened, cracked, torn or stiff. Wet slabs, grit and frosty mornings age a strip faster than a dry climate would, and a door that slams onto the floor wears it quicker still. Check it each fall by looking for daylight under the door with the lights off.
Can cars, bikes and mowers roll over a garage door threshold seal?
Yes, once the adhesive has cured. A threshold is a low, rounded rubber hump made to be driven over every day, and bikes, hand trucks and mowers cross it without trouble. Tires turning on the ends wear them fastest, so we set the threshold square to the door line and look at the glue line again on later visits.
Can a new bottom seal slide into my old garage door retainer?
Usually, if the retainer is straight, clean and in a profile we can match. Door makers use different channel shapes, including T-style, J-type and beaded, so we read the profile before cutting a strip. A retainer that is bent, corroded shut or discontinued gets replaced and priced separately, and we show you why.
Can a new bottom seal make my garage door bounce back up?
Yes, because the thicker new seal touches the floor sooner, and the opener can read that contact as an obstruction. The fix is a close-limit adjustment, sometimes with a small force change, and we make both before we leave. If it starts after a do-it-yourself seal swap, the same adjustment usually cures it.
Will a rodent-resistant garage door seal really keep mice out?
It stops chewing through the bottom edge and corners, provided the rest of the door opening is tight as well. A steel-mesh core holds up where plain vinyl gets gnawed through. Keeping birdseed and pet food in sealed bins helps as much as any seal does.
Can you fit a seal to an old wood garage door with no retainer?
Yes. Wood doors usually take a nail-on astragal, a rubber or vinyl strip fastened to the bottom rail, and an aluminum retainer can be added where the rail is sound enough to hold screws. Before either goes on, we seal the bare end grain along the bottom edge, which is where wood doors tend to start rotting.
Related pages
Where we do this
Seal and threshold work takes us from the windy east side to the sloped lots of the West Hills, including these areas.
Ready to get the door moving again?
Call with the symptom, or text a photo of the door and the opener, and we will name the part and the posted price before anyone drives out.