Suggestions for closing off a doorless bedroom in order to use small window AC.

AllenNY — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:58:05 GMT

I am unable to air condition my entire apartment and have a small window ac unit in my bedroom. The ac cools the room down nicely. However, the problem I have is that the apartment is in an old tenement building and there is not a door separating the bedroom from the rest of the apartment and I am having difficulty coming up with solutions for closing off the bedroom (to keep the cool air in). The door frame is too large for a regular size door. I have tried a flexible sliding door which malfunctioned and collapsed after a few months of usage. I've nailed a plastic drop-cloth to the opening and this has suceeded in keeping the room cool but makes it very difficult in getting in and out. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.

RE: Suggestions for closing off a doorless bedroom in order to use small window AC.

Bryan — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:04:27 GMT

I'm no home decorator, but maybe you could try cutting interior matching heavy cloth in strips (say 3 inches wide) and stapling them to a fastened piece of wood above the door (like a post on post fence). If you can sew, add small weights to the bottom to keep them in place. If you can't sew, go to Home Depot (or like) find liquid rubber, and dip the ends of the strips in the rubber about an inch. The rubber is heavy once hard and meant to protect tool handles and such. It comes in many colors. The finished product would look similar to the clear plastic flaps that help insulate commercial coolers in restaurants and grocery stores.

As long as you slightly (1/2 inch) overlap the strips, it should provide a good barrier for air, but also be easy to get in an out of. Kind of like the beads used in the 60s and 70s.