Knock-Down Weather Seal Assembly for an Overhead Door and Method of Use and Distribution

A method of distributing a weather seal assembly for an overhead garage door, the door being a sectional door having a series of hinged panels interconnected along horizontal joints and having a bottom lateral edge, the method comprising the steps of

• providing a plurality of sections of extruded aluminum retainer rails, the rails being provided in lengths which do not exceed about 5 to 6 feet overall, the retainer rails having a pair of spaced apart seal channels formed in a bottom surface thereof for receiving a flexible elongate weather seal, the retainer rails also having a separate extension channel formed in the bottom surface between the pair of spaced apart seal channels for receiving an elongate retainer clip, the bottom surface of the retainer rails being defined between a pair of opposing ends of the respective retainer rails;
• packaging a weather seal assembly kit which includes the retainer rails, retainer clips and weather seal;
• shipping the weather seal assembly kit from a distribution center to an end use location;
• joining at least two of the extruded retainer rails from the kit together by installing a retainer clip in a selected one of the extension channels provided on a bottom surface of a first one of the retainer rails and then bringing a second one of the retainer rails into proximity with the first rail, so that the retainer clip fits in a pair of aligned extension channels formed in the two retainer rails being joined and so that opposing ends of the respective retainer rails come into contact;
• installing the flexible weather seal in the at least one seal channel provided on the bottom surface of the joined retainer rails;
• and
• installing the assembled retainer rail on the bottom lateral edge of the overhead door.

A knock-down weather seal assembly kit for an overhead door having a series of hinged horizontal sections and a bottom lateral edge, the assembly kit comprising:

• at least two extruded retainer rails, the rails being provided in lengths which do not exceed about 5 to 6 feet overall, the retainer rails having at least one seal channel formed in a bottom surface thereof for receiving a flexible elongate weather seal, the retainer rails also having a separate extension channel formed in the bottom surface thereof for receiving an elongate retainer clip, the bottom surface of the retainer rails being defined between a pair of opposing ends of the respective retainer rails;
• at least one elongate retainer clip selectively sized to be received within a selected extension channel provided on a bottom surface of each of the two extruded retainer rails, whereby the two retainer rails can be assembled at a job site by installing a retainer clip in the extension channel provided in a first one of the retainer rails and then bringing a second one of the retainer rails into proximity with the first rail, so that the retainer clip fits in a pair of aligned extension channels formed on the bottom surface of the retainer rails when the channels are aligned, thereby joining the two retainer rails together so that opposing ends of the respective retainer rails come into contact;
• and
• a selected length of a flexible, elongate weather seal which can be cut to fit within the seal channel found on the bottom surface of the retainer rails.