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I recently installed two exterior prehung doors only to find out that they both leak around the aluminum threshold on both sides of the bottom. Cedar bevel siding is butted up to the frame and they are welled caulked. Are there some techniques that will assure a leak proof installation or does someone have some tips to prevent this? Thanks, Ken
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Maybe, just maybe. What brand of door? Adjustable threshold? Magnetic weather strip? Did you put the two pads on the jamb where it meets the threshold. How does the weatherstrip look where it meets the threshold? Did you caulk the wood to threhold joint? And oh yeah, is it wet on top of the threshold or under it?
*And if your doors have weather exposure (no overhang, face toward nor'east storms, etc.) tear 'em out and start over, but first go to http://www.jambsill.com
*Ken, I can't quite picture what you're talking about. In your first sentence I guessed the same as calvin, that the problem is between the jamb and door. However I get the impression the problem exist between the jamb/siding or sill/thresh. Does the jamb have brick moulding? When you say leaking, is this water or air infiltration? Without investigating directly what you have it is difficult to offer advise. So if you can give more info we might be able to help you better. Scott R.
*Okay, it seems I might of lacked some detail. The door is a Stanley metal pre-finished prehung door. It does have an adjustable threshold with no magnetic weather strip but does have a vinyl weather strip. I did not use two pads where it meets the threshold but I did use caulk to form a seal. The doors are balcony doors on the south side of the house where we get the weather from. The doors tend to leak between the jamb and the rough framing usually on both ends that contact the floor but not the middle. I can't tell if it is coming in from the top or not and then running down the jamb. The outside frame is caulked where it meets the beveled cedar siding. I suspect that the leak might be through the aluminum threshold or where it meets the jamb on both sides. I guess I was wondering about what most contractors use to seal the base, either with a pan or caulk and what have they had the most luck with? Is the pan exposed at the bottom and put over the siding? Are there some resources about forming pans and preformed pans or other resources about caulking that you know of (esp. with pics)? Thanks, Ken
*Ken, those pads that came with the door, in the long screw pkg probably is a necessity. These doors get prepped by local distributor shops around here. No two is exactly alike...........funny that. Had one prepped with a healthy reveal that actually required a thicker pad at each corner. I had flooded the area starting at the bottom and got no further than just above the sill when leak occurred. Door rep came out, checked the adj on the sill and agreed that the normal thickness supplied pads were too thin. He installed the thicker model and no more leak. So I'm a firm believer in the necessity of those pads during install. They seem to make up the difference in the bottom sweep, the threshold to jamb to weatherstrip connection etc. Try it, flood it, check it out. What's to lose? And follow the directions about tucking it in behind the weatherstrip, thick side at the stop.
*Exterior doors on balconies with no overhead protection.....hmmmmis there a drop from the interior to the exterior?is there a storm door ?is there any overhead protection?no?then i don't want the job..
*I have had the same problem with two Stanley doors that I installed last year. I finally determined that the water does indeed come in between the rubber sweep and the aluminum threshold. I am waiting on my supplier to have the Stanley rep come take a look at it. I don't think I received any of those pads with my door, so at least now I have something I can ask for.Thanks!
*Bryan, is the supplier Francis-Shulze? They are a good outfit and the same that took care of my leaker. BS with the service guy and he'll leave a handfull of both size pads. Hope all ends well. Miss working down there, some of the eateries you have are unique. I'm sure I'll be down there one of these days for some R&R at Finders. Grab something at Deitz's for the ride home.