Welcome to the homeowners club! Now, you are going to spend your weekends repairing minor leaks that can lead to bankruptcy of yours. Well, the mail slot is an open entry for winter cold that will steal money from your heating bills. Definitely, this hole must be plugged. Grab a screwdriver and let us fix this problem.

At first, measure the size of this hole. There is no point in estimating it by eye – estimation always leads to return visits. Mail slot needs a brush-style guard, while cat hole will require a magnetic door seal flap, which is thicker than in the former case. For mail slots, I would advise using the Everbilt Brush Door Weatherstrip. It is cheap and very efficient. As for your pet, choose one of double flap replacement products, for instance, the one from PetSafe.

Remove old fastening system first. Rusty screws will strip off almost immediately, and that is how life is. Use the drill instead of manual screwdriver to avoid wrist problems. Clean the surface with alcohol wipes since dirty surface interferes adhesion process. If you find some rotten spots in the wood, use a filler and wait until it dries.

Install new weather stripping and test it. See whether there are any lights coming from behind the door and check whether there is any air flow. In this case, you need to tighten the screws or use weatherstripping foam around the door frame. New door must slam with a thud and work efficiently. Now, you have saved some money on heating bills and some time for doing repairs.

The last step is checking whether your cat will pass through new door. Otherwise, you will deal with furry revolution at your house. Now, you have spent some money on saving your heating bills and earned some DIY credibility points. Have fun.