Hi,
I’m a homeowner in NJ. Our house is 8 years old. The front entry door is rotting on the bottom. The wooden frame around it is too and is feeling hollow. We see some fine powder on the inside of the house. Also, in the basement we see that powder falling through the space between the roof and the wall.
We will be replacing the door with a fiberglass door with PVC frames. However, without finding out why the rot took place, we are uncomfortable with just replacing. The door is next to the garage wall which is pretty long. There is no overhang over the door. In winter when there is a lot of snow, the snow accumulates in the corner between the fixed part of the door and the garage wall. The front porch is about 5-6 inches below the threshold. We have found that two other houses with this model also have rotten entry doors. Could it be 1)a structural issue or 2)the builder used bad wood for the doors and frames or 3)there is some other reason for it to rot?
Can anyone help?
Thanks,
VP
Replies
First, check for bugs. Sawdust is a sign of termites, or perhaps powder post beetles.
Second, you might consider an overhang to alleviate snow/water buildup.
Expert since 10 am.
That sawdust symptom tells me insects are at work too, but they do not like dry wood so there is a reason why this is getting/staying wet.
Usually where I see this it is locations where water off the roof drips and splashes back onto the door and jamb.
You could have structural damage in teh rim and floor joists under too.
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Jackplane and Piffin,
Thanks for your quick responses.
Now, how do I go about checking about bugs? Do I call a home-inspector to come in and do an analysis? I wasn't brought up in this country, hence don't have any idea of how to go about doing these things.
My husband is saying it is probably the roof line too, which could be causing this to happen since it's happened with 2 other houses with the same roof line.
Thanks,
VP
Where you see saawdust coming out in th ebasement below this, probe around with a knife or ice pick.Some bugs leave little holes and some leave buig ones. You may not even see bugs.
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Piffin,
Thanks.
I looked at the origin of the powder in the basement. I have the concrete (poured concrete) wall. Then, there is a wodden plank of about 4-5 inches which goes into the ground and another plywood about 4-5 inches from the other end of that - basically the plank, the plywood and the beams make a C at the top.
beams
plywood C filled with insulation this is basement
plank over concrete
There is a pink foam sheet between the concrete and the plank. Then on the plank and against the plywood is a paper (Tyvek maybe?) and then the whole opening of the C is filled with insulation. I moved the insulation and found what I think are ants - they are dark, think they have a tapered waist, etc. I'm wondering if it could be termites. I tried to poke around with a screwdriver, but there are no holes.
Any ideas?
I'm guessing my next step would be to get somebody to fix whatever it is. However,who do I call? A termite exterminator? A handyman? A contractor? A remodeller? Or do I first call an inspector to assess what exactly is happening?
Thanks in advance. I'd appreciate it if you could direct me to some pages where I could read up on this. I am googling ants vs termites, etc.
VP
It sounds like carpenter ants to me so far.Google images for carpenter ants and for termites and you will have pictures to compare.It will definitely take a pro to deal with termites, but ants can be dealt with yourself most of the time.back to the door - if it is rotting, it is because it gets wet and stays wet too much. You and you r husband probably have abetter idea where that moisture is comong from. I would need a photo or two if you can post digital ones under 150KB here.
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Piffin,
I have attached 4 pictures. The full house is a front view of the roof line and the door.
Again, thanks for your help.
VP
I understand now what you mean by long wall of near garage.snow drifts into that lead alley and it probably gets hot and humid in there in summer too. be sure the gutters get cleaned twice a year or they could be overflowing and letting excess water splash on that.The door was probably not high end to begin with. Trim around the sidelite suggests that. The replacement should be better fromyour description, but the bottom is stilll exposed wood on some of them. Seal it.Are you and hubby installing or you have a good carpenter?
With thath much rot, I would have a door pan and materials for replacing the sill/rimjoist at the ready when taking that one out. Maaybe have a sheet of plywood to screw over the openning overnight in case there was too much repair to get done in one day
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Piffin,
We will be getting someone to install the door. Thinking of Lowes, but based on some discussions on this forum, not sure. We were told that the PVC framing around the door means that there is no wood exposed even in the frames.
We are calling a pest control service today to get some estimate on whether or not the ants are carpenter ants and what can be done to eliminate them.
Again, I'm very thankful to you for your help and suggestions.
VP.
My first thought would be a gabled roof over the entry..to match the pitch of the other gables...but the side wall clearance makes that a poor choice, as does a shed roof. There's just not enough room for either.
That leaves a custom awning as a strong possibility. It could be made to match the arch of the upstairs window, extending perhaps four feet out from the entry. Not outrageously expensive but maybe a little too Fifth Avenue for a country home. Perhaps the awning company can come up with one which would suit the circumstance better than my little vision. Check the yellow pages.
You've got good help on your hardware questions, but the type, origin of the insects ought to be addressed, too.Go to http://www.doityourselfpestcontrol.com/to see if you can identify your bugs with their online listings.
bd, piffin, etc,
We had a pest control person come in over the weekend to take a look. Luckily they are not carpenter ants - just pavement ants.
Regarding the rot - we are still looking at our options for the door. We are going on vacation for a while. So, I'll update once we get the old door out and find out what happened inside.
Again, thanks for all your help and suggestions. It's been very instructional.
VP
Others have covered most everything but I will throw in what I know. I do these repairs alot and the damage is usually confined to the door jamb and brick mold sometimes the door itself. In all of the cases I have seen, they were, in my opinion, caused by water running off of the roof and splashing back up on the house.
I have never worked on a house with a basement--so I could not begin to tell you anything about that. I would think that a decent home repairman would be able to help you out---he will probably be making his living doing this very repair. You are putting in a new door which I think, is a great move.
Do not continue to let water splash on the house and I would think snow would be just as bad---rarely see it though. Your repair man can tell you how to do this.
Handymanvan,
Thanks, we are going to see what can be done to prevent the splashing - hopefully cleaning the gutters might take care of it.
VP