Condensate leaking out of doorknob

[woods]

My daughter just moved into a new home and both exterior doors are leaking condensate out on the cold side of the door. What can be done to stop this?

[GoHabsGo]

woods wrote in news:ee351314-198e-4c27-84ab- [e-mail]:

You can reduce the humidity a little and it might help.

[JIMMIE]

Moisture enters things like doors knobs through a process of thermal pumping where alternate cycles of heating and cooling cause the doorknob to "breathe". Anything hat will break the cycle will stop the leak, keep it at a constant temp or seal it.

Jimmie

[woods]

Thanks for the help. I'll try sealing it.

[dpb]

woods wrote: ...

You definitely don't want to prevent the moisture from getting out the outside and being trapped internally--that will simply cause even more damage than it is at present.

If this is actually just condensation in a lockset cavity, I'd suggest at most a thermal break like the wall outlet covers or something on the inner side at most.

If there's really liquid water running out the outside, I'd be more inclined to think there's a leak in the door skin or around the escutcheon, etc., and external rain/snow/etc. is getting in and then you're seeing it on its way back out.

I'd pull the lockset and see what's actually happening; I'm having trouble thinking simple condensation would do it as there's not enough volume of air it would seem unless there are large leak paths and there's an extremely high humidity issue.

--

[The Daring Dufas]

Someone asked this question before and I found where somebody had patented a doorknob insulator. I just found a company that supplies something called "Great Grips". One of the things they do is insulate the doorknob. It may work for you.

TDD

[dpb]

woods wrote: ...

Guess it's possible there was a poor installation job, but that wouldn't seem to explain condensation (assuming, again, it really is condensation and not rain/snow melt).

I'm curious as to the type of door and the location and the actual quantity of moisture and where it actually is originating.

I'd still think it highly unlikely condensation alone could be the source of water running from the lockset cavity out -- I could see condensation of moisture on an exterior surface from very humid outside air; I can't see sufficient leakage volume for significant moisture from the inside out.

--

[norminn]

Assuming the doorknobs on both sides are hollow, I would put some sort of foam inside them...there are craft paints that "foam" when applied, but just about anything foamy should work to keep warmth from passing to the outside.

[woods]

The doors are Masonite exterior steel doors, and one door opens to the outside, the other door opens up inside the unheated garage. Both doors are running water out the doorknob plates to the cold side. I noticed yesterday that there is condensate forming around the edges of the door too, but not in such large quantity as through the doorknobs.

[dpb]

You taken the locksets out to see what's happening? I find this an incredible scenario still.

I'm wondering if the doors weren't stored outside before hanging and the cladding is full of water that is the source. It just doesn't seem possible to have the amount you seem to have from simple condensation alone through an essentially closed-off