Weatherstripping

Everything I needed

Replaced some damaged weatherstripping on the doors of my house today. The weatherstripping that seals the sides and top of the door is specially shaped vinyl that slides into a groove cut in the door jamb. Replacing it is easy, just pry one end loose and then pull and the whole thing comes out easily. Cut the new one to length with a pair of scissors and push it into the slot. Last time I did this, I thought each strip cost about 50 cents, now they cost 5 dollars. Only reason I have to replace these is that the cat shreds them with his scratching. You don't have to replace the whole thing, you can just replace the damaged portion.

The weatherstripping along the bottom of the door is another matter. This required taking the enormously heavy door off its hinges and tipping it over on edge. That's the bottom edge of the front door in the top center of the picture. It's resting on my handy dandy SuperBar pry bar so that it is up off the floor so I can tell when the new weatherstrip is flush with the edge of the door. The old weatherstripping had been attached with staples. I pried the old weatherstripping loose with my pocketknife and the wrecker bar. Prying the weatherstripping loose pulled only some of the staples out, most of them just ripped through the vinyl and stayed stuck in the door. I used a six inch pair of Channellocks to pull them out.

Staples would be just the thing for attaching the new one, and I have an electric staple gun I could use, but I only have 1/2" staples for it. From previous experience I know that this gun doesn't have the oomph to drive 1/2" staples into solid wood, so let's see what else we have. Oh, how about these little bitty half inch long nails I found squirreled away in my small parts cabinet? Looks like I ought to have enough, but they are really tiny, how am I going to hold them in place, hit them with a hammer and not smash my fingers? How about a pair of pliers? My first choice was a pair of needlenose (with the blue handles in the picture above), because they were handy. I could not maintain a solid enough grip with them so I trekked to the basement and got my needlenose Vise-Grips. They worked fine for holding the nail while I gave it a whack to get it started. Then I'd release the Vise-Grips and drive the nail home using the punch.

Out of the ten or so nails I used, one managed to find one of the old staple holes. What are the odds?

Craftsman punches are not chrome plated anymore.

Are Victorinox Swiss Army knives being made in China now?