Replacing door and window gaskets is part of the regular maintenance of a wood stove. Overtime, the gaskets compress and wear out and need to be replaced. We recommend checking the airtightness of your door and glass gaskets annually as part of an off-season maintenance routine. Below are the steps to take in determining the need for gasket replacement and replacing your gaskets. Here is a quick video of the process outlined below.
Check First
- Before you replace the door gasket, perform the “dollar bill test” to check your door seal and try adjusting the door handle. While the stove is cold, open the door, place a dollar bill halfway across the door jamb, and then close and latch the door. Pull the bill out. If you feel some resistance, the door gasket is sealing properly. If it just falls out, either the door needs to be adjusted or the gasket needs to be replaced. However, you may only need an adjustment of the handle and not need to replace your gaskets yet. Read this article on how to adjust your door handle.
- If you’re still not able to get a good seal, take a look at your gaskets. If they are frayed, brittle, missing a section, or falling out, or very flat, some repair is in order.
- If the gasket rope is in good condition but just falling out, you can glue it back in with stove gasket cement. Fire the stove nice and hot afterward to cure the cement. You may smell some off-gassing as the cement cures. A fan and an open window should fix that.
How to Replace the Wood Stove Door Gasket
- If the gasket rope is in poor condition and needs to be replaced, remove the door from the stove by removing both door pins and lifting off the door. Remove the gasket rope, and clean out the old gasket cement the best you can. Chip it away with a flathead screwdriver and/or use sandpaper. It doesn't have to be perfect, just clean enough to provide a surface to apply the new gasket cement.
- Using the door gasket replacement kit, dry-fit your new gasket before applying cement. Compress the rope to fill the channel; it should be bunched up to provide plenty of thickness for a good seal to the wood stove. Make sure not to stretch it. Trim the rope to fit and wrap the end with the included heat-safe tape to keep the gasket from fraying. Remove the gasket rope from the channel.
- Knead your tube of gasket cement to soften it for smoother application.
- Wet the channel. Gasket cement should be applied to a wet surface.
- Lay a bead of gasket cement all the way around the gasket channel.
- Starting in the middle of the hinge-side channel, not on a corner, lay your gasket rope all the way around, bunching as you go.
- When you get back to where you started, smush or tape the two ends together for a good seal.
- Mount the door back on your stove and close it using the stove to “clamp” the gasket in place. Let dry for one hour.
- After an hour of drying time, adjust the handle, and fire the stove nice and hot to cure the gasket cement.
How to Replace the Wood Stove Window Gasket
This process is just the same as replacing the door gasket. The only difference is that the window gasket replacement kit uses a smaller gasket rope and you won’t need to adjust the door handle if only replacing the window gasket. We recommend clamping the gasket with a board for one hour as it dries but if you don’t have the supplies for that, reattaching the stove glass will also work fine. After an hour of drying time, fire the stove nice and hot to cure the gasket cement.
Are you still unsure about what level of maintenance your door needs or do you have other questions? We are happy to help. Email us at support@tinywoodstove.com