How to stop entry door leaks?

[HerHusband]

Yep, makes sense... :)

What's strange is the leak is right in the middle of the door. Until yesterday, the space on both sides of the door were open (to the interior) and were completely dry. If the exterior flashing was incorrect, or the caulking along the sides was failing, I would think the leak would tend to come in along the sides. But, I know water can travel in strange paths sometimes.

Yeah, unfortunately, without tearing things apart again I can't see it either. I didn't take photos along the way because I didn't expect any problems.

It's possible. Oddly, I left drainage on the outside, but sealed the inside. In theory, any water getting in should drain out, but it's seeping under the interior caulking instead. I verified the subfloor was level before installing the door (actually had a very minor slope outwards). That's what makes me think the water is coming in at the sides and running down BEHIND the caulking I installed under the door.

About 4-5 inches right now. We will be rebuilding the front steps and landing this summer when things dry out again and the new landing will be a couple inches lower.

Thanks for the advice!

Anthony

[admin]

The best solution for your problem is a DOORBRIM Door Hood. See them at

[TimR]

Lived in Europe a few years courtesy of the Army.

German doors had lips on them. Hard to describe, but rather than just fitting inside the jamb, they also overlapped the jamb.

Can you get doors like that in the US? There's no way driven rain can get in.

(a lot of German construction practices were designed to save energy - I was paying 27 cents a kWhr there.)

[Paul Drahn]

inside the jamb, they also overlapped the jamb.

paying 27 cents a kWhr there.) Do the German doors open "out", or "in", like American doors do?

Paul

[dadiOH]

Since others are answering a nearly three year old post, I will too. _______________

Exactly so. The side jambs are butted against and stapled to the ends of the threshold/sill. By doing that, the manufacturers have guaranteed that the jambs are doomed to rot sooner or later.

The way I've fixed mine is...

1. Cut out the rot at the bottom of the jamb
2. Get rid of the staples
3. Take up the aluminum threshold
4. Lay a bed of mortar so as to fill the underside of the threshold and put it back
5. Fill the gap where the rotted part of the jamb was at the ends of the threshold with mortar, contouring it the same as the threshold. (My walls are concerte block; if wood. you'd need a barrier)
6. Fill the missing part of the jamb - the part that was rotted and cut out - with Bondo. Leave about 1/4" gap above the threshold. If there had been a gap in the first pace there wouldn't have been any rot.

[homeowner]

Because this website was all loaded with flash garbage, I was not willing to wait to view it. A simple photo would have told the story much faster and easier. So much for bloated websites in this decade.

However, I assume it's similar to what was called an awning in the past. I put awnings over all my doors, but I build them out of wood and roofing steel.

[homeowner]

While most American doors open in, I wanted a door to open out on my toolshed, because it's a small shed and the door would waste lots of space. I would have had to pay more than double to buy a pre-hung door that opened out, because it was custom made. So, I made my own frame, and just bought the door. Worked well. I was able to buy a steel door that was on sale for $10 because it has a very small dent in it. The wood for the frame, threshold, door sweep, and weather stripping cost me about $50. So, for $60 and a little extra work I got what I wanted.

A no-frills steel door pre-hung was around $140. They wanted about $330 to custom make one that opens out!

[Ed Pawlowski]

Wow, it took you almost three years to find a post so you could spam your product. You need to hire a 12 year old to help your internet marketing.

[HerHusband]

I originally posted about the rotting door frames about three years ago. In almost every case, water ran down the sides of the door jambs, and wicked up the bottoms of the jambs. This quickly caused the door jambs to rot.

My solution was two fold:

1. I replaced the door frames with composite frames (PVC material like Trex decking). I just measured the door and hinge locations to the nearest 1/32", and ordered them from the local Lowes store. The steel doors were fine, so no reason to replace those. The old doors and hinges attached to the new frames with no difficulty.

1. Once I had the old frame out, I repaired a couple of minor rotting areas in the sheathing beneath the door. Then I installed PVC "Jamb Sill" trays in the door opening before reinstalling the new door frames.

Finally, I caulked around the door jambs as I would do in any normal installation. The composite frames should be more resistant to rot, and shouldn't wick moisture like the old frames. The Jambsill tray ensures any water that finds it's way in will exit out the bottom and not cause damage to the building structure.

I don't recall the exact prices now, but I think the cost per door was less than $150. Not cheap, but it was a small price to pay to ensure a long lasting installation.

Obviously, it would have been smarter to use composite frames and jamb sill trays during the initial construction, but I didn't know about them back then. Still, it only took a couple of hours to replace each door frame.

Other than the cost, the only downside is painting the composite PVC trim. I had to apply primer and about three coats of paint for adequate coverage, but three years later it still looks great.

Anthony Watson Mountain Software

[dadiOH]

Looks to be a useful product. Of course, if the door manufacturers would make their doors properly in the first place, there would be no need for the "jamb sills". Hmm...I wonder if they are in cahoots :)

[HerHusband]

Agreed. I tried to find a one piece threshold that wrapped up the sides of the door frame. Or, a "one piece" frame like vinyl windows have. But, I couldn't find anything at any price. Every door frame seems to be made the same way, with the same vulnerability to wicking and rot.

The composite frame and sill liner combination seemed to be the best alternative approach (if you don't want a storm door on the outside).

Anthony Watson Mountain Software

[pschnarr]

I wish I had my problem back when Anthony started this thread. I have thre e exterior metal-clad HD doors installed by a contractor in an addition to my cabin. They are cheap doors but look decent and are good enough except for the leaking under the sills just like Anthpny reports. I have been stru ggling with this for two years and just now am getting aroundt to finishing the floor and so need a permanent solution. Thanks to comments above I am likely to go the storm door route as the simplist but I just had to put th is out there. The adjustable sill plate on these doors has four bolts that raise and lower the plate to adjust for irregularities. The flashing and s ill seem to be leakproof otherwise, but heavy rain causes the same kind of leaks Anthony described on the floor right in the middle of the door.

So finally I found I could take the sill plate (really a molded plastic str ip) completely off by unscrewing all four of the bolts. I believe this is the source of the problem. Intense rain and splashing against the door cau ses a back flow of water that comes up underneath this molded plate and flo ws inside.

Has anyone found a solution for this? Should I put a thick bead of silicon e on the underneath side of the plate, let it harden, and then hope it acts like a gasket? It would be great not to have to buy storm doors.

--Phil

[Karasam2]

Anthony,

It's always advisable to protect a door from rain first to minimize the chances of leaking. Check out an affordable solution from

[Karasam2]

Anthony, It's always advisable to first protect a doorway by minimizing the amount of rain that affects it. Check out an affordable solution from DOORBRIM at

[HerHusband]

That message is FOUR years old, and I wouldn't exactly call a $190 plastic brim "affordable". Not to mention all of the sample photos show commercial installations, not real attractive for residential use.

Also, the brim also wouldn't do anything to prevent water from splashing back up from the decks or sidewalks. My in-laws have a roof overhanging their front door, but their door frame is rotting at the bottom from splashback just like mine did.

In any case, I solved the problem by replacing the wood door frames with composite frames that won't rot. The door itself was fine, so I simply measured the existing door, hinge, and lock locations, then ordered a new frame from Lowes. To protect the structure from any water that might leak around the frame, I also installed a Jamsill tray

in the door opening before installing the new door frame.

I haven't had any problems since then and the total cost was less than the "brim".

Anthony Watson