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Default 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.
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Default 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.)
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Default 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
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Default How to stop entry door leaks?

wrote:
On Friday, January 22, 2010 10:30:21 AM UTC-5, HerHusband wrote:


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

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.


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)

5. 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.

--

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


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Default 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.



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Default 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!

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Default 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.
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Default 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
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Default 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


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Default 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



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Default 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
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Default 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.

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Default 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.
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Default 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
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