How To Install Spring Bronze Weatherstripping

This video will teach you how to install the most DIY friendly and longest lasting weatherstripping for wood doors and windows, spring bronze. The supplies are all listed below and the techniques here apply to almost any kind of wood windows whether it is double-hung, casement, or anything else.

Installing spring bronze can greatly increase the energy efficiency of your windows and cut down significantly on drafts.

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[maryhansen]

thank you for the demo! Am glad theres something better than felt and thATA sticky rubber stuff that ruins the paint on my door!

[jenko]

The is the gold standard of weather stripping

[bernadettepesce]

Thank you very much for the excellent video. The front of my house faces west and often is buffeted by strong winds. I have installed 3M V-seal around the door frame. It has worked well in keeping out air leaks but the adhesive doesn't hold up with all the friction from opening and closing the door, in part because the framing is a bit rough. Eventually I have had to replace it. This looks easy and more permanent.

[karenbaker]

I have a door that lets in a draft. I’ve tried the usual weather stripping, but that either falls off after a few days, or, if I tack it on with those tiny nails, the weather stripping itself shreds. This also looks a lot nicer than weather stripping-it’ll look a lot nicer in the summer when doors and windows are open!

[TheChupacabra]

Beautiful detail, but I think for performance, a bead of silicone down the length behind the nailing line is necessary. Otherwise wind is funneled into that wedge shaped void and finds any gaps and starts working it open.

[indyregen]

Hello, anyway you could post a picture of how the lockstrips are installed? I've been doing my doors and I can't seem to figure them out around the strikeplate and hinge. Thanks for all you do! Off to glaze some more now. @The Craftsman Blog

[SuperMan-xyui]

It's nice to put the nailing strip behind casement window hinges for visual continuity.

[midos]

I didn't know they still made spring metal weather stripping. I remember seeing it on really old houses.

[complementarychaos]

My local hardware store has wooden handled, spring loaded, nail sets for doing this, specifically. $15.00. Just load the brass nail into the front end and push. I hammered away for years, even buying materials from the owner during that time, and one day he said, "Do you use these? Nobody buys them. They're on sale." I bought every unit he had (they are a bit low quality). I love them. You ever used these nail sets?

[nodishack]

Should spring bronze go within the meeting rail? Also, should the spring bronze be placed on the Bottom of the bottom window or on the window sill?

Thanks a ton

[mini-montauk-adventures]

Great video! How do you seal the gap along the meeting rails? I tried the spring bronze but it doesn't work well for this purpose. I tried putting it on the lower sash, but I had to install it with the nails along the top of the meeting rail because otherwise they'd be too close to the glass. Installed this way, however, the bronze catches on the upper sash. I'll have to remove it and try something else.

[susanvallejos]

Do you have to measure the with of the spring bronze?

[iwerkalone]

Thanks for the video, hate to criticize but I still saw sunlight on that lower left hand side of the casement window. Also another poster correctly pointed out that the hinge side was installed wrong. Even so, you had (2) 1/8" gaps where you cut out for the hinge. A lot of air can get through a 1/4" hole. I use a folding carpenters rule for accurate inside measurements, much better than a tape rule.

[lindabarrow]

I am unsure how wide a piece of weatherstripping to order for my double hung windows. The windows run 1-3/8"(+/-) to 1-1/2" thick. The space in the window is 1-1/2" to 1-5/8" wide. I can get 1-1/4" or 1-1/8" spring bronze. I know I need to leave space on the spring side for it to move down. But 1-1/4" would be very close nailing to the edge. Should there be a space of wood on the nail edge side as well, or not needed?

[brianschwind]

Do you have any advice or a video on how to install spring bronze weatherstripping on arched exterior doors? In other words, do you need to cut it at intervals to get it to follow the arch? Is spring bronze the wrong application for arch doors? If so, what would you recommend?

[caryssabuchholz]

Question - I have a double casement and the two sashes don't meet perfectly in the middle, so this is where I see most sunlight. Can I install bronze on one of the sashes so when they meet there is no gap or what is the best way to resolve this when there is no mullion in-between the two at the middle.

[jenifersheehy]

Great video. I do wish people would explain terminology though. For example what is a “parting bead”?

[ewaltersusc]

Great video. My 1935 construction CA house has a metal tape measure style mechanism instead of ropes and pulleys in the window sashes. Would you recommend this same set up? That tape measure mechanism has rubbed small grooves into the sash over the years.

[cliff]

What would be the labor cost per foot? Approximately?

[JasonSpitzMI]

I use that on my doors because it works better than sticky strip weather stripping.