Air/light sealing small grow cabinet door - Need Ideas

Hi all

I'm planning a new cab which I'm building from scratch. The door to it, like the back, will be inset with a "door jamb" of sorts. I need to know what the best air/light sealing material would be.

The jamb will be about 1.437" wide so I'm thinking to using as much of that as possible, like 3/4" or 1" wide seal (or wider if it's out there).

I was thinking rubber would work best, the foam would probably not work much. I'll need to build in the measurement taking into account how tall it will stand away from the jamb, but I want it to compress against the door when closed for the best air/light seal.

I've researched a ton but haven't really found much. I also thought about a blackout cloth with velcro sewn in around the edges of the cloth then the other side stapled to the jamb but would like to avoid that if possible. I had this on my previous cab but it was kind of a pain in the ass.

Bicycle tube was something I saw that could work as well...kind of creating my own custom seal idea.

What have you used or seen used that works? Thanks in advance for the help..

GF

I was in Lowe's today and saw this...

https://www.amazon.com/M-D-Building-Products-1025-All-Climate/dp/B000HE7YQM/ref=sr_1_6?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1482891904&sr=1-6&keywords=m-d+building+products+weather+stripping

It looks like it would do that job well. Has anyone tried this?

I think that's a pretty solid idea. I have something very similar to that, its a weather strip, that I use to seal the bottom of my front and back doors of my house to keep bugs and stuff out. I don't see why this wouldn't work the same

giantsfan24 said:

about 1.437" wide

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I like how you say "about" but then give a number precise to the thousandth of an inch

Anyways, if you walk a little more around lowes or Home depot, they sell all sort of door weather stripping in different profiles, some even have supporting strips so you can secure them to your surface flush and not have to screw into the "seal"

There are full aisles of rubber seals they sell for door threshholds and garage doors (if you want the biggest, garage door seal is what you want). Go hunting

If you want an air tight seal, your going to need a very good latch

your going to be exhausting this cabinet? if so why bother with it being air tight...negative pressure brother....as far as light i wouldn't worry about small leaks at all......unless your worried about light escaping from your cabinet.

brimck325 said:

your going to be exhausting this cabinet? if so why bother with it being air tight...negative pressure brother....as far as light i wouldn't worry about small leaks at all......unless your worried about light escaping from your cabinet.

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Yeah the ventilation is all worked out. I would like it sealed for a variety of reasons but mostly ensuring air comes from the passive intake and not from around the doors or joints. Seeking the best negative pressure without overusing the fan.

I'm not particularly concerned about light penetration in small amounts into the box but more light leaking out.

That said, if sealing is easy, why not?