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Help- rotted out wood at base of door jam problem

It is hard to see what has been done in the photo with the shears. Based on the other photos, I would...

  1. Fix the wood that has been cut off a few inches up. You could either replace the whole piece or scarf in a section.
  2. Before the wood, I would make a dam at the bottom out of - guess what? - Bondo.I would make it the same depth and width as the new wood will be; I would slope it from the inside outward: a ramp.
  3. On the bottom of the new wood I would also make a slope so that of the wood and Bondo are parallel. I would make the new wood about 1/4" shorter so that its ramp hangs over the one of Bondo. I would build the Bondo ramp up about 1/2-1: higher than the aluminum threshold.
  4. I would apply copper napthanate to the entirety of the new wood (you can get it at HD, it is used for painting cut ends of PT lumber). When the copper napthanate is dry - it takes a while - I would prime and paint the new wood with oil paint, then install.
  5. Finally, I would caulk the gap between the two ramps.
Reply to
dadiOH
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It'll certainly help but the door looks in pretty bad shape as well as near as I can tell. It's not so much that the water runs over the sill as that it collects and tends to retain water along the sill in all the crevices and crannies and it undoubtedly runs w/ capillary action under it and to the ends to get into the ends of the jambs and wall sections to greater or lesser degree.

That there was the hole where the brick mould ran below the grade before is obviously going to have been a major problem and I agree you'll have helped that part out significantly.

I agree w/ the geometry DadiOH suggests; it's the same as did I. I won't argue any further with him over it but Bondo is simply not the right product for this job.

The only other lesser disagreement I have with his advice is that it is counter-productive to caulk that seam at the bottom of the brick mould meeting the base; it's the same idea as the purpose of weep holes in masonry or not caulking the bottom of siding laps--any moisture that _does_ get in there needs a way to get out; if it has no way out then it becomes a dam on the wrong side.

I'm guessing part of the problem in this area is also that it is shaded a fair amount of the time?

Reply to
dpb

I could live with that. In fact, I DID live with that.

I built four French screen doors a few years ago to enclose an open lanai. I left an uncaulked 1/4" gap at the bottom of the jambs. Do you have any idea how many different types of critters can get through a 1/4" gap??? The cats liked the gap, wife didn't, no more gap :(

OP wouldn't have a critter problem in the house if he left a gap uncaulked so propably better that he does. I might still partially close it with a piece of backer rod, though, just to keep critters from taking up residence within the gap itself. That's what I did on my lanai.

Reply to
dadiOH

I wouldn't leave anything approaching a 1/4" gap...

Reply to
dpb

It's north facing. It gets sun in the am, it's in the shade in the pm, but it's wind driven rain and snow pile up that's the real problem.

I'm probably going to fill out the remaining void with qwikrete. The wood is already primered, does there need to be visqueen or something like that between the wood and qwikrete?

Reply to
DaveT

On 07/17/2014 8:49 AM, DaveT wrote: ...

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I probably wouldn't bother, but it couldn't hurt I think...

Reply to
dpb

I'm wondering if an impermeable barrier wouldn't stop moisture from getting -out- of the wood, similar to leaving a small gap at the base of wood piece to let it move out. I don't see all that much moisture going from the qwikrete into the wood. I can't remember ever seeing any barrier used in house framing where 2x4's lay on concrete.

Reply to
DaveT

I'm wondering if an impermeable barrier wouldn't stop moisture from getting -out- of the wood, similar to leaving a small gap at the base of wood piece to let it move out. I don't see all that much moisture going from the qwikrete into the wood. I can't remember ever seeing any barrier used in house framing where 2x4's lay on concrete.

Reply to
DaveT

That was basically why I said I probably wouldn't -- as long as there's not a dam at the bottom to hold I don't think it would really hurt anything, though, but I don't see that it has much purpose, either.

Reply to
dpb

Dave,

You had better luck than me. The entry door on our garage, and the back door of our house both rotted out at the bottom within 5-6 years. The front door at my in-laws is also rotting out about 5 years after we installed it.

In all three cases, the doors were exposed to the weather with no significant roof overhang. The rot always seems to be worse on the latch side of the door frame. I think that's because the gap around the door is slightly wider there, so it's easier for water to get in.

I sincerely hope your repair works for you. When I replaced my door frame, I discovered more rot to the structure beneath the frame. Thankfully, I caught it in time so the damage was very minor, but I wouldn't have seen it unless I took the frame out.

Before I installed the new door frame, I install a jamsill flashing in the rough opening. This time around I assumed water WILL get past the door frame, so this ensures it gets directed outside the structure.

I recommend raising the entire door frame, not just the sill. You can reuse the door if you take careful measurements of the hinges and whatnot when you order a new frame. That's what I did with our doors and it worked great.

I raised our garage door up about 3 inches, mostly because I need to raise my sidewalk for better drainage. I knew the header above the door was way oversized (double 2x10s for the 3 foot opening), so I simply cut a couple inches from the bottom of the header. Then I poured a small concrete base to raise the bottom of the frame up a few inches.

Yes, raising the door will create a small trip hazard, but virtually all homes have a sill you have to step up and over. At the same time, that prevents any water buildup from just running over the top of the door sill.

Please keep us posted on how it turns out. I would love to see a picture of your final repair when you get it done.

Take care,

Anthony Watson

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Reply to
HerHusband

As DPB mentioned, you should always leave a gap at the bottom for moisture to escape. However, 1/4" is a huge gap, the gap should be 1/16" or so. Enough for moisture to get out, but not enough for bugs to get in.

Anthony Watson

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Reply to
HerHusband

Dave,

If I remember correctly, sill sealer is now required by code where wood framing (sills primarily) are in contact with the concrete foundation. This seals gaps between the concrete and wood sill, but it's also a plastic vapor barrier to preven moisture from wicking up from the foundation.

For something like an interior basement wall it may not be needed "IF" there is already a moisture barrier beneath the concrete floor. I would still use pressure treated lumber for that bottom plate in case you have flooding or something.

Anthony Watson

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Reply to
HerHusband

Florida bugs deal in angstrom units :)

Reply to
dadiOH

I hear ya. Howver - IME - skinny gaps soon get clogged up with crud. There are two things my sweet wife abhors: an uncluttered horizontal surface and housework. And no, I'm not going to unclog them either, got to much shop/Sketchup work to do.

Reply to
dadiOH

On 07/17/2014 10:20 AM, HerHusband wrote: ...

That is still my primary recommendation; the sill alone was if there was some other requirement that prevented raising the header or if just wanted the minimal way out solution.

One place where raising the door overall might be less attractive is if there are other architectural features in line with the top so that the mismatch in heights would not be pleasing in appearance.

Reply to
dpb

I qwikreted the empty area - not pretty but it seems pretty solid.

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I'm thinking of stuccoing the thing to smooth out the surface and make it blend in. Then I'll put flashing over the wood-qwikrete contact to keep driven rain from getting into the moisture gap I left there.

How long should I let the qwikrete dry before applying stucco?

Reply to
DaveT

Anytime. Since you already have Qwikrete you could use that. Why didn't you just surface the Qwikrete as you applied it?

Reply to
dadiOH

On 07/18/2014 9:03 PM, DaveT wrote: ...

Why on earth didn't you form and pour it as I suggested?????

Reply to
dpb

How do I change the color of qwikrete to tan like the surrounding stucco?

Reply to
DaveT

It's shaped the way I want it - it would have taken longer build a form than it did to just get it done by hand with a couple supports.

And how do you pour into a form that extends up to the wood trim and is

1.5 inches across? As thick as qwikcrete is, I know there aren't any empty spaces in there because I hand apllied it and stood over it until setup.
Reply to
DaveT

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