moisture under front door
 

I've recently discovered a moisture problem under my front door. It is
only visible from the basement. The sill plate and joists that sit
atop my concrete foundation wall and directly below my front door are
moist during rainstorms. There does not appear to be any evidence of
moisture stains or damage to the plywood subfloor around the door. I
suspect that water is making contact with the framing under my front
concrete step and then wicking in. I'd like to fix before I have
serious problems. My home is 4 years old.

Has anyone else seen this? Any advise on how to repair?

Thanks,
RD

wrote in message
ups.com...
I've recently discovered a moisture problem under my front door. It is
only visible from the basement. The sill plate and joists that sit
atop my concrete foundation wall and directly below my front door are
moist during rainstorms. There does not appear to be any evidence of
moisture stains or damage to the plywood subfloor around the door. I
suspect that water is making contact with the framing under my front
concrete step and then wicking in. I'd like to fix before I have
serious problems. My home is 4 years old.

Has anyone else seen this? Any advise on how to repair?

Probably bad or missing flashing under the door assembly, or lack of that
all-important bead of caulk on the sill before the door was placed. If they
didn't flash the band joist, sill, etc, and just stapled up tarpaper, and
poured concrete up against it, you have a problem. No good way to diagnose
long distance. I'd mix up some buckets of water with food coloring, and see
if you can narrow down where the leak is. Best case scenario- potting up
some cracks with caulk slows it down enough to live with. Middle case
scenario- you have to deinstall front door down to rough opening, and flash
and seal properly, if structure of concrete in front allows it. Worst case
scenario- you have to demo part or all of front porch, to correct drainage
and flashing problems. Is builder still around? Probably long out of
warranty, but they may offer a price break on repairs out of embarrassment,
or at least have some info or site pictures of how it was all put together,
to give a clue how to repair. Leaks are funny things- if front door isn't
well weather protected, leak could be in flashing above door, and
traveling down the hollows in the frame, with no leaks visible above floor
level.

Having said all the above, my bet is driven/wicked rain under threshold
plate, with faulty flashing/sealing underneath. The water path is lower than
the level of the plywood, probably at sill plate level. Somebody got lazy
before porch was poured, and didn't make sure all the flashing and sealing
was in place. Maybe a basement waterproofing company can drill some tiny
holes and saturate the area with one of their magic potions.

aem sends....