A Guide to Retainer Door Seals  

After finding the perfect garage door seal for your project, you might think you’re done—but before you can install this essential protection, you need a retainer to hold your seal in place. With so many varieties to choose from, it’s important to pick the right model for your specific project. Our retainers are designed with our Vinyl, Rubber, TPE, TPV Flex Brush and Standard Brush seal in mind. This means our retainers easily fit our astragals so you’ll never have to force a seal through an unsuitable retainer again. Action Industries makes both its retainers and Weather Seals in America so we can oversee the manufacturing process to ensure our customers get the highest quality seals and retainers.  

What is a Retainer Seal?    

A retainer is a piece made from either aluminum or plastic (also called vinyl) and installed on the top, bottom, or sides of an access point, often a garage door. The retainer presses the weather seal at an angle to the exterior of the appliance to create a reliable and long-lasting garage door seal. The angle and size vary depending on the access point and brush being used. Action Industries' Brush and Vinyl Seals can stop 99% of air infiltration, as the chart below illustrates. 

Retainers are great for weatherproofing sectional overhead doors, rolling steel, commercial doors, passage sweeps, and dock levelers. Action manufactures seals for all types of door manufacturers and styles. We make seals that fit with the top garage door manufacturers like Wayne Dalton, Clopay, Martin, and many more. With material styles of wood, aluminum, fiberglass, steel, or vinyl, Action ensures you can purchase the retainer you need in a style that fits your facility.  

Retainer Sizes, Compatible Seals, and Shapes   

Our retainers come in Standard, Large and Slim-line sizes, with Standard retainers fitting Standard seals, Large retainers fitting Large seals, and Slim-line retainers fitting Slim-Line seals respectively.    

In addition to size, some of our retainers contain custom shapes to seal your garage the way you need! Depending on the size, retainers can come in shapes of 45 Degrees, Straight, Offset, 90 degrees, and Reverse 45.    

Action’s 45 Degree retainers are ideal for sectional overhead garage doors. Straight retainers hold the side and top seals flush with the door. This makes it ideal for doors with irregular surfaces, like rolling steel doors, corrugated doors, and roll-up doors. Offset retainers lift the Weather Seal away from a door’s jambs for an extra wide seal channel that works well for commercial and industrial applications. Our 90 Degree retainer profile is ideal for sealing loading dock levelers. It is designed to hold garage door seals perpendicular to jambs. This makes Top seals and Side seals flush against the exterior of a garage door to plug the possible gaps in loading dock levelers. Finally, Action’s Reverse 45 Degree seal retainer presses Weather Seals directly into the gaps where a closed garage door meets the side and top jambs.  

Standard Retainers (#4 channel retainers)    

Our Standard retainers have a #4 channel that fits all standard-sized Vinyl, Brush, and Rubber seals available from Action Industries. Made with high-quality aluminum, Standard retainers are durable and easy to install on both residential and commercial garage doors.    

Action's Standard retainers come in five shape variations: 45 Degrees, Straight, Offset, 90 Degrees, and Reverse 45.    

The 45 Degree Standard retainer can come in either 1-inch or 3-inch. Both come in lengths of 8ft, 9ft, 10ft, 12ft, 14ft, 16ft, and 18ft as well as any custom lengths you need.                                                                                                                                     

The Straight Standard retainer comes in 1-inch in the colors mill, bronze, or white. The two-inch is also available in mill, bronze, or white. They can be ordered in lengths of 8ft, 9ft, 10ft, 12ft, 14ft, 16ft, and 18ft.   

The Offset Standard retainer comes in 2-inch and 3-inch. Both can have a mill, bronze, and white finish. The lengths they come in are 8ft, 9ft, 10ft, 12ft, 14ft, 16ft, and 18ft lengths as well as custom sizes.   

The 90 Degree Standard retainer comes in 1-inch and can have a finish of mill, bronze or white. It comes in 8ft, 9ft, 10ft, 12ft, 14ft, 16ft, and 18ft lengths.    

The reverse 45 Degree Standard retainer comes in 1-inch and you can choose between a mill, bronze, or white finish. Its lengths are 8ft, 9ft, 10ft, 12ft, 14ft, 16ft, and 18ft.  

Large Retainers (#7 channel retainers)  

Our Large retainers are made from high-quality, solid aluminum and contain a #7 size channel. Large retainers provide long-lasting Weather Seal mounts for commercial and residential garage doors. Our large retainers are available in numerous designs and lengths for almost any custom installation.   

Our Large retainers come in four shapes: 45 Degree, Straight, Offset, and 90 Degree. These will fit the #7 Large Brush, Large EPDM, Brush, and Weatherblock Seals from Action Industries.      

Our 45 Degree Large retainer comes in 1-inch, 3-inch, and 5 ½ inch. It comes in 8ft, 9ft, 10ft, 12ft, 14ft, 16ft, and 18ft sections as well as custom lengths to fit your specific needs.   

Our Straight Large retainer comes in 1-inch, 3-inch, and 5 ½ widths. It can be purchased in 8ft, 9ft, 10ft, 12ft, 14ft, 16ft, and 18ft lengths as well as custom lengths to fit what you need.   

The Offset Large Retainer comes in 2-inch and 3-inch and the same standard lengths as well as custom sizes.   

Our 90 Degree Large Retainer comes in a 1-inch width and the same standard lengths as well as custom lengths to make them perfect for any job. 

Slim-line Retainers (#2.5 channel retainers)    

Our Slim-line retainers come in four shapes: 45 Degree, Straight, Offset, and 90 Degree. All will fit the #7 Large Brush, Large EPDM, Brush, and Weatherblock Seals from Action Industries.

Action’s Slim-line retainers are made from solid aluminum. This creates a long-lasting and secure mount for slim-line Weather Seals. Our Slim-line aluminum retainers are available in two variations: 45 Degree and Straight. The Slim-line's channel is a size 2.5 and compatible with all seals designed for 2.5 sizes at Action Industries. This includes Brush Seal, Flex Brush, Vinyl Seal, and Bulb Seal. These retainers are smaller in size and more economical than Standard retainers, but remain effective at holding seals in place.  

Our 45 Degree Slim-line retainer comes in a 7/8 inch width and its finish can be bronze, white, or mill. Its available lengths come in 8ft, 9ft, 10ft, 12ft, 14ft, 16ft, and 18ft as well as custom lengths if needed.   

Our Straight Slim-line retainer comes in a 7/8 inch width and can also have a bronze, white, or mill finish. It can be purchased in 8ft, 9ft, 10ft, 12ft, 14ft, 16ft, and 18ft foot lengths along with custom options.   

Bottom Seal Retainer

Our Bottom retainers work with residential garage doors, rolling doors for facilities, and corrugated doors for barns and storage units. They come in either our anti-corrosive, heavy-duty aluminum or plastic. Both variations are made to fit our Vinyl, T-style Rubber, and Bulb Seals.   

Aluminum Seal Retainers

Action’s aluminum retainers are made from solid aluminum that won’t rust and reliably holds garage door seals in place. This is due to the aluminum's extrusion process. The process involves shaping raw aluminum into the retainer using a die. Dies are circular, thick disks that have one or several openings which create the profile. Dies are made from heat-treated steel to withstand the temperature of the hot, moldable aluminum that is forced through them. Forcing raw aluminum through a die usually takes 100,000 to 125,000 psi. As the extrusion exits the die, it is moved to the lead-out table and a puller that guides it down a table. While being pulled, the extrusion cools. Once at the desired length, the extrusion is cut and placed on a cooling table. After cooling, it is stretched to increase its hardness and durability. The fully processed extrusion is then cut to the desired length. This process makes our aluminum retainers extra durable and able to withstand extreme temperatures.  

Plastic Bottom Seal Retainers

Whether you’re a homeowner making home improvements or are in a facility seeking to increase workplace energy efficiency, our Plastic Bottom seal retainers are a great economical solution to mount weatherstripping. These retainers are lighter weight than our aluminum retainers, which allows them to be cut on-site to the exact size a job’s entrance needs. This saves time and removes the need for precise pre-measuring. Besides being lightweight, Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic is resistant to cracking & warping from everyday use along with exposure to extreme temperatures.   

This resilience is due to the PVC’s makeup. Polyvinyl chloride has roughly 57% of chlorine content. This makes it chemically resistant to acids, salts, bases, and more. This combined with PVC’s lightweight and fire resistance makes it a popular choice in the construction industry, especially when it comes to an economical retainer. PVC retainers are created with salt and oil. Saltwater is put through the process of electrolysis, which produces chlorine, The chlorine is then combined with the ethylene obtained from oil to create vinyl chloride monomer. The molecules of VCM are then polymerized to form PVC resin. The PVC resin is mixed with various additives to create a distinct PVC compound best suited for retainers.  

Our Plastic Vinyl Bottom Seals come in lengths from eight feet to eighteen feet, and each retainer is equipped with a 0.25-inch channel that is compatible with any T-Style, Rubber, Vinyl, or Bulb Door Seal from Action Industries.   

Rolling Steel "Z" Header Seal Retainer

Custom jobs require custom parts. You can give full clearance to rolling steep doors that open above the header with Action’s specialized Rolling Steel "Z" Header seal retainer. With the right seal, this galvanized steel retainer will protect up to a 3-4 inch gap (standard size) or a 6-12 inch gap (large size) in your door.   

Speed up Your Jobs with Installation Kits  

Not looking forward to a lengthy installation process? Action Industries saves you time and a headache with our pre-assembled kits to provide everything you need for installation in one convenient box. Find out more here.  

How to Replace a Garage Door Retainer   

When replacing a garage door retainer, be sure to choose a new retainer that matches your garage, if aesthetics matter to you. Measure the size of your door to know the length needed for your new retainer. You can also check your owner's manual to see the measurements needed to replace your garage door’s retainer.

How do you Fix the Bottom Seal on a Garage Door?   

When a garage door Bottom Seal cracks or is worn down, it is best to purchase a new piece to ensure you maintain full protection. Your replacement garage door bottom retainer will include installation instructions upon arrival. You can also watch our replacement garage door retainer installation videos to see how to install replacement retainers. If you have questions, call or email our staff about your DIY installation projects.

We carry garage door Bottom Seal Kits that come with a garage door Bottom Weather Seal plus a replacement retainer. Some kits include installation hardware. Or, you can shop our garage door Weather Seal and retainer installation hardware collection.

How to Install A Retainer Seal

 To install your retainer, follow these handy steps!

Action Industries has every part for every door, and retainers are no exception! Be sure to check out our line of garage door operators and bottom rubber seals!