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We've got some french doors and I'd like to seal them as well as possible. There is a gap where I can see light in the middle. The left door has a sliding lock/post that goes down into the ground. The door bottom has been cut to accommodate this, reducing the effectiveness of the left door seal.

Any suggestions for getting this sealed up to keep pests out?

I'm considering a screen door as a last resort - this solution would have benefits of letting us open the doors when weather is nice, keeping the cat in and the bugs out.

Thanks for your advice.

--- Here is what I ended up doing... ---

I didn't do anything very fancy, I just kept the sweep to the full length of the door and cut a whole for the bottom bolt to go through. I then left the operable door's sweep a little long to make sure there was contact between both sweeps. It's cut down on the scorpions.

Inside

Stationary Door with bolt

operational door seal

additional picture from outside. astragal from outside

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  • The elegant solution would be a removable astragal, providing a "door stop" that both doors can seal against but that can be dismounted when you want the full-width opening. Failing that, putting a lip on one of the doors to cover the opening and optionally mounting a "coordinator" to help ensure they always close in the proper order would work.
    – keshlam
    Commented Sep 6, 2015 at 17:16
  • A simple solution is to install closed cell foam weather-stripping and the door edge. Sold in many thicknesses and width's.
    – ojait
    Commented Sep 6, 2015 at 21:56

1 Answer 1

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As already mentioned an astragal is the door molding used to cover a gap between two side by side doors. They usually are preinstalled on pre hung doors. If you need to span a space between a pair of doors any molding with the correct width will do, as long as it is attached to just one of the doors.

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  • There is already an astragal installed on the door. I'll add a picture from the outside.
    – Sam
    Commented Sep 6, 2015 at 22:24
  • Looking at some brochures for astragals, it seems this one was either incorrectly installed or has lost the seal at the bottom. I'll be finding a new one.
    – Sam
    Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 4:21
  • @Sam- the last photo shows the bottoms of both doors and the opening that is the issue? If so try this: stick duct tape on the bottoms of both opened doors. With the bronze colored silicone caulking you just picked-up at the hardware store, squirt enough caulking into the spaces (L door :drip edge on the door bottom/ R door : the space below the astragal), to fill them to slightly above the surface. Close both doors and lock. With a putty knife, shape and pack caulking to conform to the surrounding surfaces. Remove the tape in the morning.
    – ojait
    Commented Sep 10, 2015 at 1:59
  • Interesting idea. How to keep the bottom locking bolt operable? Just muscle it free after drying? Also, it seems the caulking would then join both doors together after drying. Looks like I have access to make a cut from the inside though.
    – Sam
    Commented Sep 10, 2015 at 21:40
  • or after making sure bolt has penetrated the tape coat it with oil, leaving it in the lock position. Apply silicone. Too be fair I don't see this idea lasting forever, but it might be worth the couple of hours to keep bugs from entering.
    – ojait
    Commented Sep 10, 2015 at 23:25

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