Rotting door jamb and trim... what to paint with?

[Bruce Laughlin]

Hi,

I live in the southeast USA, and no matter what I do, I seem to have a problem with the trim and jamb of my front door rotting. I had the entire door assembly replaced a few years ago, primed and painted it with several coats of a good exterior latex paint, and here I am again, with rotting trim.

As far as the repairs go, I've had pretty good luck with removing the rotted wood back to good wood, putting several coats of Minwax Wood Hardener on the bare wood, filling the hole with Minwax Wood Filler, sanding and painting. So, my question is, do any of you have any recommendations for what I can do from a primer/painting standpoint to prevent the rest of the trim at ground level from rotting out? Keeping water off it is a problem, because there is no cover over the porch, and not really an easy way to install one, since there is a huge window above the door. Any brand suggestions or techniques I might try?

Thanks in advance, Bruce

[RicodJour]

If your door frame keeps rotting, you're probably experiencing rot to the structural framing as well. A more insidious problem since you can't see the damage and it continues to rot.

The only way to deal with the problem is to pull the door and trim, inspect and repair the rotted framing as necessary using treated wood and the appropriate fasteners, install flashing and caulking as necessary, rebuild the door frame using a composite wood or plastic (such as Azek), install plastic trim, reinstall the door, prime everything, caulk, then paint with at least two coats of quality paint.

It's not quick, it's not cheap, but it's the only way to fix the problem so you won't be doing maintenance repairs until you die.

As an aside, you can put a flat roofed covering over that doorway that won't interfere with that window. Entrance doors should have some sort of roof over them for a number of reasons.

R

[Kyle Boatright]

Is the area small enough that you could simply brush it with epoxy, then paint over the epoxy?

[Bruce Laughlin]

Maybe... let's assume I wanted to do the entire bottom 4" of all the jamb and trim. Are you suggesting that I treat the bottom 4" with epoxy, as if it were primer, and then paint over it? If so, should I assume that even on the non-rotted areas, I should strip back to bare wood?

[chickenwing]

goto neighbors and see similiar door as yours goto more nieghbors...see more doors in your hood

if your door is only one rotting then you would want to address the root of the moisture problem, not just get heavy duty towards it (if uh, this uh, so called epoXy would actually work)

[Bruce Laughlin]

The rot is pretty common in this part of the country. Bottoms of doors, window and door jambs, etc.. I'm not sure if it's crappy constructions, crappy materials, both, or neither.

[Bruce Laughlin]

Actually, I know the cause. The front door is on the north side of the house, and gets no direct sun. And, the porch isn't covered, so rain either falls directly on the bottom of the door jamb/frame, or splashes up on it from the porch. The rain just sits there, and rots the wood.

[Roger]

Repeated rotting would suggest you have a moisture problem, not a paint product choice problem. You either have to put a porch cover or roof over the area, or re-pitch and seal the jamb, and approach, so that water drains away, or do both . Given the rain/wind exposure there, I would opt for some kind of roof over the entry.. I am guessing the door faces south or southeast, no?

[Bruce Laughlin]

The door faces north. I'd like to put a cover over the porch, but the design pretty much makes that impossible. As far as re-pitching the jamb, the door, side windows, transom window, jambs and trim are all one unit, so I don't think that would be an easy task. You mention sealing the jamb... can you expand on that?

[RicodJour]

Why can't you put in a flat roof over the door? Even if the window above came all the way down to the floor, there'd still be room. There should be room for a pitched roof, either shed or gable, regardless. Post a picture.

R

[Bruce Laughlin]

I'd always thought that the design of the house pretty much ruled out a cover over the porch... but I'd still consider it. I'll post a picture tomorrow. Do I just attach it to a message?

[RicodJour]

Not unless you want people with bandwidth limitations to yell at you. Use one of the free picture hosting web sites to post the picture then include a link in your post to the newsgroup.

Thanks for asking the question.

R

[Roger]

If the vertical jamb is in contact with , say, a concrete porch, you may want to caulk the seam so water will not collect there. Also, the threshold should be above the concrete, not flush with it. If it is flush, make sure the porch slopes away from the threshold, and the crack between them is sealed with a flexible caulk, such as GE exterior silicone caulk (comes in several colors). During significant rainfall, get out there and see where the water goes after it splashes against the door and the porch surface. That will give you a clue how to proceed. If the gap between the jamb, or the threshold, is more than 1/4 inch, I would not seal it, as it might dry out between rainstorms. The pitch of the porch is important. Should slope away, not be flat or reverse pitch.

[Joseph Meehan]

Roger wrote: ...

I agree. There is something here other than a paint issue.

You may need to use different materials (not different paint, but a rot resistant wood or other materials, replace more than you are to eliminate the real problem, find leaks coming from another area etc. This is something that an on site inspection by a knowledgeable professional with experience in the area is the answer.

[scott21230]

Using better quality wood would help (no pun intended). Replacement wood should be hardwood that has several coats of oil based varnish on all sides that you can't see. The parts that you can see should be primed (probably 3 coats) with oil based primer and painted with oil based paint. That and some asort of roof or awning should do it.

[George E. Cawthon]

First you fix the splash. One of those fake carpet mats would do that.

Next you remove the wood parts that rot. Replace as needed and paint all wood surfaces with a good oil paint as if all parts were to show. Install and caulk all seams. Then paint with a oil paint.

Funny how many problems would be solved if manufactures and installers weren't so cheap with finishes. Same with furniture, finish all surfaces, including the undersides which often have no finish; they don't have to be smooth just covered with a layer or two of finish.

Sometimes, especially on window sills, you just end up with a bad board that will not hold paint or any finish. The only real solution is to replace such a board.

[Stubby]

Right. Pull the trim off and fix what needs fixed. Then install new, plastic, foam-core trim. You'll never have to paint it again.

[Bruce L.]

I posted a couple of pictures, you can see them here:

I'd like to take this opportunity to say thanks to all of you who have given me your opinion, I appreciate it.

Thanks, Bruce

[RicodJour]

That's kind of a harsh entry. Having people stand out in the elements while they're waiting for you to come to the door isn't the most welcoming introduction to your house. You only have the closeup pictures of the entry, so I can't see what's going on with the rest of the house, but you do have room to put in a portico over the front door. It would also give you an opportunity to put the light fixture in a location that doesn't look quite so arbitrary. The potted plants on either side of the door points to the entry needing some softening.

That first step up onto the concrete stoop looks pretty high. How tall is it?

Sheltering the door will kill several birds with one stone. It'll protect the door, the people coming and going, and allow you to dress up the house pretty inexpensively. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

R

[Bruce L.]

Too high... the steps themselves settled over the years, and need to get fixed. That's another project for another day. Fortunately, the majority of people who come to the house use the side or back door, so the front porch not being covered isn't a huge problem for our guests.

I like the idea of a portico, the more I think of it. When I get a chance, I'll take a full view picture of the front of the house, so you can see what I'm working with.

Bruce