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My front door does not close squarely. The hinge side closes flush. The lower corner opening side touches the weatherstripping fully. But the top of the door does not. The door has about 1/2 inch difference on the top edge, where it does not completely engage the weatherstrip. Obviously the door or frame is somehow not square. Let's assume removing the door and replacing it (or the frame) isn't an option at this time.

Is there any kind of "tapered" gasket or trim material I could purchase in order to then take off the weather stripping and replace with a "fatter" strip that will seal, or take off the weather stripping and put in a long tapered (3 foot and 7 foot) edge material (wood, plastic) to match the door, and then put new weatherstrip on that will close fully.

My other idea was to put a deadbolt on the upper corner of the door and when I push it closed, engage the lock and it will keep the door closed and sealed. But I don't like that idea much.

Any other suggestions appreciated.

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    1/2" is a pretty large gap. That door should be rehung (replacement should not be needed).
    – UnhandledExcepSean
    Commented Oct 21, 2016 at 17:33
  • If everything fit properly when the door was installed and now it's that far out of whack, you might want to verify that you don't have a foundation settlement issue.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Oct 1, 2017 at 21:27

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Why spend more time trying to cover it up than it would take to fix it?

The door needs re-hung (should be low/no cost). If you are unwilling to re-hang the door, I've had good success with using large foam weatherstripping that is cut to what I needed.

Big box stores carry the foam weatherstripping in a coil such as this in varying thicknesses.

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  • I would use tapered wooden shims between the studs and the door frame. This will secure the frame and hold it in place then a can of spray foam to seal the space between the frame and the stud.
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Oct 21, 2016 at 19:01
  • Agree that a fix is low cost, but unfortunately relatively quirky (translation: sometimes hard) as far as required skills go. You either need to tweak the bottom hinge (bad b/c of air admittance down there after the fix) or the entire jamb (bad because of interior/exterior finishes being shifted).
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Commented Oct 23, 2016 at 1:50

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