On Sun, 2 Oct 2011 11:11:44 +0000, "Steven L."
wrote:



"Harry K" wrote in message
:

On Oct 1, 5:15Â*pm, "Steven L." wrote:
I've been noticing that there is a chilly draft seeping in at the bottom
of the sliding glass door to my deck. The chilly air comes in between
the door and the track it rides on.

Obviously if I caulked it, I won't be able to slide open the door.

Is there anything I can do to reduce that draft? Â*Attach something to
the bottom of the door perhaps?

-- Steven L.

That is why sliders should be banned. About the most asinine solution
to making an entry thorugh a wall. My wife insisted on one when I
built the addition 30 years ago. Quality Anderson, We fought it all
those years, chip, melt ice out of the track in winter, flimsy lock,
**** poor sealing (narrow strips of "fuzz"), etc. Last January as I
was going at the icy track with a gale blowing down my neck I swore
that that damn door was history as soon as the weather warmed up.
$1500 later it is history.

When I had a DirecTV dish installed on my deck, the technician ran the
cable from the dish through the space between the deck door and the
lower-right corner of the door frame, via a flat cable coupler.

But that proves how much space there is between the door and the frame.
The cable gets through--and so does the cold wind.




-- Steven L.


Our slider, which I replaced something like 25 years ago, does not
leak appreciably at all. It is a vinyl clad wood cored unit - I
believe it is a "Mason" brand unit. When we had the air infiltration
test done the technician was surprised how tight it was - many "french
doors" leak a lot worse. The "Ostaco" stiding door is another one made
for intemperate climates that seals very well.
Don't know if I'd want to use it as my main winter entrans - either
the Ostaco or the Mason - but for the use it gets here it is more than
adequate. Here we need something we can open for ventilation without
letting the bugs in, and that we can open just part way if we want,
and does not take up floor space either inside or outside when open.
Nothing other than a slider meets those requirements.
With a toe lock or a short "jam stick" the door can be left partly
open and still be "secure" as well - which is impossible with anything
other than a slider.

Undoubtably there are a LOT of "cheap" sliders out there that leak
like a pet door - and the original aluminum slider that came with the
house frosted up like an icicle every winter - and when it thawed the
water got down into the wood sill belown rotting it out. The house was
about 10 years old when I replaced it, and the sill was so bad you
could look out through from the basement.

The only mistake I made was not planning far enough ahead to get the
proper sized "new install" door, so I had to install an "insert" type
replacement door - which is a few inches smaller and required having
the old frame capped with aluminum, or painted every couple of years.

The only replacement window or door in the house that was not done
"frame out" - And I'll NEVER do another one that way - even if it
means the hole is filled with a plywood sheet until the proper sized
replacement unit is available.