How to stop entry door leaks?

I took a PDH in waterproofing a few years ago and the main point was you don't stop water, you redirect it.

- = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist

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Reply to
vjp2.at
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The garage entry door is a little looser, which may have accelerated it's demise. But, the other doors fit tightly against the weatherstripping.

Anthony

Reply to
HerHusband

There are no transoms or side lights around the door. Just your basic prehung steel entry door mounted in a wall.

Anthony

Reply to
HerHusband

We have wind driven rain A LOT here on the coast of Maine and even the cheap doors I bought a Homedepot do not leak even though I don't have them flashed or the siding on yet...I think you need to talk to a pro and have him look it over...No offense , but you obviously messed up something on the install as everyone you did leaks......If it were just one in a specific location it would be one thing but that is not the case...

Reply to
benick

How do you move the latch in a bit? And by latch I assume you mean the strike plate. I'm guessing you need to redrill the mounting holes for the strike plate, no?

Reply to
Patrick Karl

Yep...Filled them in with toothpicks and Elmer's and started over again..Didn't move it much..Perhaps an eighth...Made a world of difference though...

Reply to
benick

Golf Tees (hardwood) work great. Drill the larger hole, tap the tee in with small hammer and cut with a utility knife. You can also use glue, so let it dry.

Reply to
Oren

Huh??? Every door I installed leaks? Where did you get your information? I've only installed one steel entry door in my life. When the wind blows the rain to the area where the weather striping touches the steel door, it gets wicked in between the two and flows down and runs both inside and outside. The door opens into the garage so the water wicked between the door and the weather stripping is already on the inside part of the jamb.

Now where are all the others I did?

Reply to
Tony

Yea , I saw that in the other door thread and already have it stored in the memory banks...LOL...

Reply to
benick

Sorry for the brain fart , I was responding to the OP... Quote from the OP...

"I have installed several prehung exterior steel entry doors over the last few years, and virtually all of them have minor leaks somewhere around the bottom. The first was the entry door to our garage, which has now rotted and will need replacing this summer. Obviously, I don't want any other doors to rot like the first one, or worse yet cause structural damage to the buildings"

End quote....I should have said...To the OP...

Reply to
benick

Forgot to add that I did have to egg out the mortise (?) a bit with a sharp utility knife...It wasn't enough to notice though as the other side is covered by the strike...

Reply to
benick

No offense taken, but we built our own house, garage, several remodeling projects at my in-laws, installed numerous windows, doors, etc. Installing an entry door isn't exactly rocket science, and I've researched and followed every recommended guideline I can find. I can't imagine a "pro" would have done anything different than I did, and probably wouldn't have taken the time to be as thorough.

It is something of a mystery, so I'm going to try tightening the latch up this afternoon to see if that will help.

By the way, the water seeps in under the door sill on the subfloor. If you already have a finished floor installed, you would probably never see it leaking...

Anthony

Reply to
HerHusband

HerHusband wrote: ...

Well, you can solve the problem or replace the sills over and over, your choice... :)

There are full-exposure s-doors that won't hide the face of the inner door if that is a requirement.

W/O pictures including installation details it's hard to make any specific conjecture but I'd say the likely culprit is there is no slope outward so water stays where it lands rather than drains. As well, capillary action may be pulling some under the sill if there is any small crack at all.

Depending on where and how they were caulked, it (the caulk) may be server more as a drainage dam than as a sealant.

--

Reply to
dpb

If the water is coming in UNDER the threshhold, that is probably where the problem is. Can't see your door from here, but I suspect improperly installed flashing, or the threshold is sitting higher than you thought and did not get bedded in the caulk. Sometimes you need to add something to the sill of the rough opening. And how much drop is there from the front edge of threshold to the porch surface outside? If it is less than a couple of inches any 'sheeting' rain that get blown against door will get in there. (A common problem when people add slate or faux brick to an existing porch.)

Short of a remove and reinstall, you could always drill through the threshold (in dry weather), and pump the cavity below full of silicone sealant. Unless maybe some of the threshold trim is removable, and you can get access that way.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

The 2 in the garage and the one in the basement I would and the one in the kitchen was without trim or finished floor for quite a while as I was doing it on just weekends when not working..Actually it was the kitchen door that I had the leak in that I fixed by adjusting the strike as was recommended by a carpenter I do alot of drywall work for..You know , one of those pro's that do shit work and just rip folks off.......Like I said you have something going on that we can't diagnosis without seeing it which is why I said have a pro look at it....But if your already better at it than somebody that does it DAILY and has to pay for damages caused by leaks than I guess we are done here......Good Luck......

Reply to
benick

I had some tutelage from a pro. A two man crew. We hauled a LARGE picture window up the scaffold. Set the window with a couple of fasteners.

The more I looked I figured out what was wrong. The window was upside down and weep holes were on top.

Also it is easy to think you have the flashing/wrap tucked correctly. In such a case I found it before the (another) window was set. The

*moist wrap* on one side was lapped wrong, so water would get behind it - eventually.

Point being? The leak is right in front of you!

Reply to
Oren

OK, I'm over it. Shit happens.

Reply to
Tony

Nah , he is an expert who is more thorough than anybody else could possibly be...It can't be something he did...I mean , only every door he has installed leaks..It has to be the rotation of the Earth or some strange phenomenon..Either that or he is cursed by the Door Gods....LOL...

Reply to
benick

Thanks..I'll sleep better now...LOL...

Reply to
benick

Relax... I never said I was an expert, just that I had more experience than the average weekend handyman. I wouldn't be here asking questions if I had all the answers. Obviously I'm overlooking something or the door wouldn't be leaking. I make mistakes, I learn, I move on...

I adjusted the strike plate yesterday to get the door to seal a little tighter to the weather stripping yesterday. We only work at my in-laws on weekends since they live out of town, but I'm having them keep an eye out for leaks. Naturally, it's not supposed to rain much this week. :)

There are a couple of small spots I want to recaulk, but I can't really do that while it's raining heavily.

Sorry to offend, but thanks for the input!

Anthony

Reply to
HerHusband

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