Hello all,
My grandmother’s 5-year old townhouse has some water damage to the hardwood floors near a pair of exterior french doors. The silicone that was sealing the aluminum threshold to the brick facing below has pulled apart almost all the way across, and I assume this is where the water’s coming in. The threshold also seems loose in the middle; if you press down you can feel about 1/8″ of movement.
What’s the typical method (if there is one) for fixing this situation? Can the threshold, which appears to extend under the door jambs, be removed without cutting it in half first? Can a new one be installed under the jambs without cutting them back? Should the threshold be sealed underneath in addition to a bead on its outside edge?
I also noticed that the exterior caulk near the top of the jamb on one side is pulling away, like it would if you were to try to push that jamb inside the house from outside. The jamb has moved far enough in (or the brick facing far enough out, not sure which) that you can actually see the inner corner of the bricks and the gap between them and the sheathing. I suspect this is contributing to the water problem, as presumably any water that got in there would run down behind the brick. Any thoughts on what might cause this movement and how to fix it?
Thanks in advance!
Mike
Replies
very common problem that has little to do with silicone caulk.
have repaired many like this.
can you please post a photo of the outside area showing the entire door and another showing the door and the overhang / roof line above ?
something like this:
View Image
View Image
looks like a perfectly nice door, no ?
another in a long string of leakers.
carpenter in transition
Edited 6/29/2008 11:09 pm ET by timkline
Edited 6/29/2008 11:10 pm ET by timkline
Thanks for the reply Tim. I live out of town but I'll see if my Mom can take some pics today and email them to me for posting.
as the other posters have said, it probably involves a sill flashing problem and or a head flashing problem.
here is ready made product to help prevent sill flashing problems
http://www.jamsill.com/pilot.asp?pg=builder
carpenter in transition
Thanks for all the replies and info. I've attached some photos of the doors in case anyone has any further thoughts on this. I'm especially concerned about the brick facing appearing to be pulling away from the jamb (see photo #004). I don't recall seeing any cracks in the brick; is it possible the jamb has moved inward? Any suggestions on how to repair this?
It's unlikely I'm going to have the time to tackle this project so my Mom will likely be hiring someone to do it, and I'd like to be able to give her some idea of questions to ask etc. Thanks again!
Mike
Someone needs to go there and put a level, or similar absolutely straight edge (or use a line--see below) across the door opening from brick edge to brick edge across door and across each corner and see if bricks have moved out of plane. Doesn't look like it to me. They can also site from back on wall, closing one eye and pressing open one close to wall, or preferably, site from a wall corner to verify that wall is all in a plane.
(Pardon any spelling, typo errors I didn't catch, I'm at tail end of migraine and it does this to me. Though, come to think of it, spelling and typos are problems without a headache.)
Do you know what the angle iron is fastened to? Hope it is to something structural like door header. Make sure that hasn't moved. The venner bricks above it may have moved out at right side, or maybe the angle was attacked to the door fraome and it has moved in--I couldn't tell from photos.
My bet though is that if things are moving, it is the door and frame, not the brick wall . While whoever is checking out wall with straignt edge (even a stretched line will tell you a lot), have them put a level on the outside of the door frame--is it plumb, or is it leaning in or out?
Answers to those questions will give you some idea of how to proceed. Good luck. I's difficult having a close relative live far away. Let us know what you find out and maybe we can offer more useful suggestions!
Typically the threshold on these doors extends underneath the door side jambs, and is screwed or stapled from the bottom into them. Not real easy to replace it. Best bet in your case is probably to un-nail the entire door unit & re-set it, with correct flashing under the threshold. Not really that hard to do.
I used to be sure and prime the wood that is usually used as a stiffener under the threshold-the factory used whatever scrap they had there, which usually rotted. Nowadays I think they've started using rot-proof material on the better doors, as well as composite material on the bottom six inches of the jambs....
I like jrnbj's advice--take out the door. That way you can really see what is going on in there--see if there is rot and so on and take care of all the problems for sure. Otherwise you are just applying the proverbial Band-aid that will mainly serve to hide real problems. More caulk is obviously not the answer.