Posted by Brian on 11/11/2019 to Garage Door: Bottom Seals
Bottom Door Seal
Bottom Garage Door Seal - Measuring and Buying Tips

If you have a steel garage door that's been on your home for a while then you most likely have a bottom seal on the garage door that is cracked, hardened or torn. Years of being in the elements can damage the seal along with chipmunks & squirrels that want to get in your garage for that birdseed you have sitting in there. You'll be able to seal up the garage, keep out the elements and hopefully the critters by replacing the worn out seal with some new seal.

Figuring out what bottom garage door seal will work with your door is not difficult but it can be frustrating so we'll go through some steps below that will hopefully take away some of that frustration.

Determine What Style of Seal You Need - There are different styles of seals. There are some common ones that many manufacturers use and then a few odd ones. You'll need to determine what seal you need and it's best if you can cut a piece off of the existing bottom seal. Raise you door part way so you can reach the bottom seal and if you can cut a 2" to 3" piece of the seal off (scissors usually work well). Also take a few pictures of the seal and retainer (that's the aluminum piece the seal slides into) so you'll have a couple of pics to send us if you decide to contact us for help. A few pics can sometimes help us assist you in determining what seal you need.

Measure The Bottom Seal - Take the piece of seal you cut and use a measuring tape or ruler to get some measurements.

  • Measure the width of the seal as it lays flat. The most common widths are 3" and 4" (but could be anywhere from 2-1/2" to 4-1/2"). 
Measure Width Bottom Seal

Measure Seal






  • Determine what "style" of seal it is. Probably the most common "style" is the T-style but there are also P-Bulb style, Bead style, T-Bulb style and others. On the T-style seal these are the parts of the seals that look like a "T" and slide into the bottom seal retainer. You'll want to measure these T's on the seal as this will determine which seal will fit into the bottom seal retainer. You're basically measuring the side of the seal. Write down your measurements.  The most common "T" measurements are 1/4" and 5/16".
Measure T Seal
  T Style Bottom Seal









Measure the Width of the Garage Door - You'll want to measure the width of the garage door so you can determine the length of seal you need. Don't measure the garage opening as your garage door may be slightly larger than the door opening. Single car doors can be 8' to 12' wide while 2-car doors can be 16' to 20' wide. Garage doors can be made any size though in 1" increments so that's why it's important to measure the door and not the opening.

Order New Seal - Now that you have all the measurements you can order replacement seal. If you have the T-style seal then you can order some replacement seal from us at the Garage Door Zone. If you measured the "T" on the seal to be 1/4" then you have a couple of options: 3" wide vinyl seal, 3" wide rubber seal, 4" wide vinyl seal and 4" wide rubber seal. If your "T" measures 5/16" then the only option we currently offer is the 4" wide rubber seal.

The 1/4" T-style seal is a compatible replacement for Raynor brand garage doors along with some Gadco, Hormann and other brands using a 1/4" T-style seal. The 5/16" T-style seal is more commonly found on some Amarr, CHI, Clopay, Wayne Dalton and Overhead door models.

  1. Difference between vinyl and rubber. The vinyl seal is going to be a little bit stiffer than the rubber seal. The rubber seal is going to be slightly better for extreme hot and cold temperatures. Both seals have ribs on the one side to help keep out the dust, dirt and water.
  2. Overall length of the seal. If you order seal from us then we will ship your seal with an extra 5" to 6". So if you order a 9' long piece of seal then the actual length of seal you get will approximately be 9'6". The extra seal is for tucking back into the retainer when you install it.
3 Gray Bottom Seal  3 Black Bottom Seal
Still Not Sure What To Order? If you've taken the measurements but you're still not sure what to order then we recommend that you Contact Us. If you have some pictures of your bottom seal and retainer please include them. We'll do our best to help you figure out what you need. You can also order a Seal Sample Pack. We'll send you all four types of the 1/4" T-style seal we sell in 4" lengths. With the small samples you feel the difference between the vinyl and rubber seals plus you can see if the "T" part of seals fit properly in your garage door retainer. This will also help determine if our seals will work in your door without having to buy a long piece of seal only to find it doesn't fit your door and having to pay $9 or $10 to return it to us. The Seal Sample Pack includes free shipping.

Seal Sample Pack













Tips On Installing The Seal - If you're looking for some tips on installing the new bottom door seal then check out our other blog post Garage Door Bottom Seal - Installation Tips.