Help me with my light leaks
- Thread starter gimpy12
- Start date
Go to HD and get some shoe molding and a piece of 1/8 or 3/16 or 1/4 brownboard (pegboard material without the holes). Have them cut the brownboard to the inside dimensions of the cabinet -1/4" in width and height. Cut the shoe molding and nail or glue to the inside of the cabinet about 1" deep with the FLAT side of the shoe molding facing out. Your exhaust will suck the precut brownboard up tight or you can put screws in to hold it tight.
gimpy, here is what I do...
I use two different weatherstripping products.
I take 1-1/4" wide x 1/8" thick felt weatherstripping and staple it to the perimeter of the inside of the doors, allowing about half (this is determined by the size of your gaps) of it to stick out past the door sides. Let them overlap one another at the corners, and give the corners plenty of extra staples. (a good staple gun is important, don't fumble around with moms stapler...good ones aren't expensive...an air stapler would be primo)
When you close the doors, the bit of felt you left sticking out will fold in like a regular door sweep.
OK, now after doing this, you are gonna have a majority of your problem fixed right away. You will want to figure out which door you need to close first, and stick with that, especially since you have no corner post.
You will find that you will need to affix something to the doors to keep them closed securely. A small lock hasp for each door is what I use, but use your imagination and whats available to you.
Now, there may well be some light left to deal with. What I do is use marine grade auto type weatherstripping. 3/8" thick x 3/4" w/adhesive on one side.
It will be in the same area at Home DePot or Lowes as the felt stripping.
Closing one door at a time, you can pencil on the cab where the felt comes to when the door is closed. Once you have the whole inside perimeter of the cab penciled, line the thing with the automotive stripping right up to your pencil mark...I like to take mine up closer so the doors fit snug and tight when closed. This should block any additional light.
You may want to consider adding a center post to the cab if you have problems there. (~1" x 2" x opening height)
Hopefully you can follow what I'm throwing at you with a mental picture...let me know if I need to be more specific.
EDIT:
After taking a closer look, you may want to only do the felt on the sides and the middle. You can line the door tops and bottoms with the adhesive strip, and put a row in on the cab that the door stripping will squeeze against.
Half the fun of cab growing is figuring stuff like this out!
Best of luck!
I use two different weatherstripping products.
I take 1-1/4" wide x 1/8" thick felt weatherstripping and staple it to the perimeter of the inside of the doors, allowing about half (this is determined by the size of your gaps) of it to stick out past the door sides. Let them overlap one another at the corners, and give the corners plenty of extra staples. (a good staple gun is important, don't fumble around with moms stapler...good ones aren't expensive...an air stapler would be primo)
When you close the doors, the bit of felt you left sticking out will fold in like a regular door sweep.
OK, now after doing this, you are gonna have a majority of your problem fixed right away. You will want to figure out which door you need to close first, and stick with that, especially since you have no corner post.
You will find that you will need to affix something to the doors to keep them closed securely. A small lock hasp for each door is what I use, but use your imagination and whats available to you.
Now, there may well be some light left to deal with. What I do is use marine grade auto type weatherstripping. 3/8" thick x 3/4" w/adhesive on one side.
It will be in the same area at Home DePot or Lowes as the felt stripping.
Closing one door at a time, you can pencil on the cab where the felt comes to when the door is closed. Once you have the whole inside perimeter of the cab penciled, line the thing with the automotive stripping right up to your pencil mark...I like to take mine up closer so the doors fit snug and tight when closed. This should block any additional light.
You may want to consider adding a center post to the cab if you have problems there. (~1" x 2" x opening height)
Hopefully you can follow what I'm throwing at you with a mental picture...let me know if I need to be more specific.
EDIT:
After taking a closer look, you may want to only do the felt on the sides and the middle. You can line the door tops and bottoms with the adhesive strip, and put a row in on the cab that the door stripping will squeeze against.
Half the fun of cab growing is figuring stuff like this out!
Best of luck!
Last edited:
brookie said:
Like he said ^ except add some of the gray weatherstripping to the back edge of the shoe molding that touches the door. You can get it at wally world. It's like tape with foam attached to it. For the center, just cut a board and screw it to the back of one of the doors so that it will run down 1/2 and 1/2 on each door. PM me and I'll see if I can find some pics.
always keep a blanket over it.
Cheap, effective, pain free.
Cheap, effective, pain free.
G
Guest
Easiest way IMHO ... Get Panda (B/W Poly) Cut 2 overlapping pieces and configure them like curtains on the inside ... be sure you have enough poly to overlap those edges and the center strip sufficiently (about 4-6 inches) ... securely staple and duct tape the sides and top and let the curl at the bottom be free so you have easy access. The center can be held together by velcro Just In Case.
