weatherproofing

[Kman]

I have a metal exterior door that is a source of heat loss. The door and frame came as a package and was installed when the house was built about four years ago. It has a built-in weatherproofing strip that is fine about halfway up from the threshold, but at that point the door and strip start to lose contact (this is opposite the hinge side).

Up to the corner of the door (above the door knob) it completely loses contact and opens up to about a 1/4" gap where a lot of cold air gets in. To make matters worse, it faces north, so the wind blows in quite a bit. At the top of the door, it is still open 1/4", but then the gap closes again as it gets closer to the hinge side.

In the past, I put on a self-sticking weatherproof strip on top of the existing strip, but (1) it doesn't stick very well due to the cold weather, and (2) it compresses the existing strip so there is still a gap in a couple of places.

I don't know if the door is warped at the top corner, or if the frame is warped. Either way, the door doesn't seal off well and we've got some serious heat loss.

Any other ideas for fixing this, outside of pulling off the door and frame?

[pushkins]

This is caused by incorrect door installation, basically the door is not plumb. The only way to fix this is to remove and reinstall the door correctly.
As for a temporary fix, try sticking the door sealer strips to the actual door, not over the door jam weather seal. Clean the area your going to stick the seal to with some alcohol wipes or nail polish remover, be careful if your doing this over a painted surface, don't scrub the area just a quick wipe over.

[Kman]

How would I account for that corner of the door frame pushing out? Looking at the door from the inside, the top right corner of the frame would have to push out to close the gap. Then the frame would be recessed into the hole on the inside, and pushed out on the outside.

I'm not even sure it could be pushed out anyway, since the exterior is brick, and the brick pocket may not go out any further.

[pushkins]

This is kinda difficult to explain in writing but I'll give it a whirl anyway, if you push out the bottom left corner it actually will pull in the top right corner and visa verse, the same happens on the opposite side. This is because the door is "fixed" on one side by hinges on that side's jam, so the door cannot move away from that side's seal without physically moving the hinges on the jam.
Same happens when lifting say the bottom left side (hinged side) the gap between door and top jam will increase on the top right side again because the hinged side cannot physically move.
It makes no difference what door, exterior or bedroom door etc...
Doors are tricky to install "just" right, the door rough in has to be very plumb or when you install the door plumb and the door way isn't it becomes very obvious.
Have you ever had a door that always wants to swing open or closed if not closed fully ?....this is another example of a door not being installed plumb, providing the hinges are fairly good, in your example of an opening on the top right side suggests that the door would swing open.
Put a level on both sides of the door Jam (not trim moldings) and check for level, I'll bet yours is either pushed outwards on the bottom left (hinged side) or it's inwards on the bottom right side (latch side).