Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
Home Repair (alt.home.repair) For all homeowners and DIYers with many experienced tradesmen. Solve your toughest home fix-it problems. |
Reply |
|
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#41
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
On Friday, January 22, 2010 10:30:21 AM UTC-5, HerHusband wrote:
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. I've tried to follow the best building practices I can, wrapping the wall felt into the door opening, applying flashing tape around the opening (bottom, sides, then top), caulking with high quality PL polyurethane caulking, etc. The exterior door frame is completely sealed and there's no possible way water is coming in around the exterior of the frame. As far as I can tell, the water comes in somewhere around the door sill at the bottom. I'm not positive, but I think the water runs down the sides of the door against the weatherstripping then along the crack between the metal sill and the the wood jambs. I've tried caulking these joints also, which has helped, but the water is still getting in somewhere. Unfortunately, there's no overhanging roof to protect most of the doors, and adding an external storm door is not an option either. I'm stumped. It shouldn't be this difficult to make a door water tight... Any ideas? Thanks, Anthony The best solution for your problem is a DOORBRIM Door Hood. See them at https://doorbrim.com. |
#42
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
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.) |
#43
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
On 12/30/2012 9:48 AM, TimR wrote:
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.) Do the German doors open "out", or "in", like American doors do? Paul |
#45
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
On Sun, 30 Dec 2012 09:35:50 -0800 (PST), wrote:
The best solution for your problem is a DOORBRIM Door Hood. See them at https://doorbrim.com. 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. |
#46
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
On Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:56:35 -0800, Paul Drahn
wrote: Do the German doors open "out", or "in", like American doors do? 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! |
#47
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
On Sun, 30 Dec 2012 09:35:50 -0800 (PST), wrote:
On Friday, January 22, 2010 10:30:21 AM UTC-5, HerHusband wrote: I have installed several prehung exterior steel entry doors over the last few years, and virtually all of them have minor leaks somewhere The best solution for your problem is a DOORDORK Door Hood. See them at https://doordork.com 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. |
#48
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
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. The way I've fixed mine is... 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. 2. 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" (www.jamsill.com) 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 www.mountain-software.com/about.htm |
#49
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
HerHusband wrote:
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. The way I've fixed mine is... 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. 2. 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" (www.jamsill.com) trays in the door opening before reinstalling the new door frames. 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 -- dadiOH ____________________________ Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race? Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change? Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net |
#50
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
if the door manufacturers would make their doors properly
in the first place, there would be no need for the "jamb sills". 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 www.mountain-software.com/about.htm |
#51
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
On Tuesday, January 1, 2013 2:23:26 PM UTC-5, HerHusband wrote:
if the door manufacturers would make their doors properly in the first place, there would be no need for the "jamb sills". 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 www.mountain-software.com/about.htm I wish I had my problem back when Anthony started this thread. I have three 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 struggling 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 this 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 sill 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 strip) 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 causes a back flow of water that comes up underneath this molded plate and flows inside. Has anyone found a solution for this? Should I put a thick bead of silicone 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 |
#52
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
Anthony,
It's always advisable to protect a door from rain first to minimize the chances of leaking. Check out an affordable solution from http://doorbrim.com. |
#53
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
On Friday, January 22, 2010 10:30:21 AM UTC-5, HerHusband wrote:
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. I've tried to follow the best building practices I can, wrapping the wall felt into the door opening, applying flashing tape around the opening (bottom, sides, then top), caulking with high quality PL polyurethane caulking, etc. The exterior door frame is completely sealed and there's no possible way water is coming in around the exterior of the frame. As far as I can tell, the water comes in somewhere around the door sill at the bottom. I'm not positive, but I think the water runs down the sides of the door against the weatherstripping then along the crack between the metal sill and the the wood jambs. I've tried caulking these joints also, which has helped, but the water is still getting in somewhere. Unfortunately, there's no overhanging roof to protect most of the doors, and adding an external storm door is not an option either. I'm stumped. It shouldn't be this difficult to make a door water tight... Any ideas? Thanks, Anthony 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 http://doorbrim.com. |
#54
Posted to alt.home.repair
|
|||
|
|||
How to stop entry door leaks?
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. I've tried to follow the best building practices I can, wrapping the wall felt into the door opening, applying flashing tape around the opening (bottom, sides, then top), caulking with high quality PL polyurethane caulking, etc. The exterior door frame is completely sealed and there's no possible way water is coming in around the exterior of the frame. As far as I can tell, the water comes in somewhere around the door sill at the bottom. I'm not positive, but I think the water runs down the sides of the door against the weatherstripping then along the crack between the metal sill and the the wood jambs. I've tried caulking these joints also, which has helped, but the water is still getting in somewhere. Unfortunately, there's no overhanging roof to protect most of the doors, and adding an external storm door is not an option either. 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 http://doorbrim.com. 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 (www.jamsill.com) 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 www.watsondiy.com www.mountainsoftware.com |
Reply |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Replacing entry door only - no prehung door | Home Repair | |||
entry door | Home Repair | |||
Child door locks for entry door | Home Repair | |||
Door Entry System - Aluminium Door | UK diy | |||
Entry Door | Home Repair |