I have a home that is less than a-year-old. Six months after purchasing the home I started noticing mold growing around the back door. The homebuilder has been out several times to try to fix the issues. Every time he comes out he just adds more silicone everywhere and tries to fix the problem. Every time it rains my walls are wet. There’s never been any water in the actual home just in the walls. They have pulled off baseboards and sheet rock and you can see mold and the damage from the water being so wet. The homebuilder now wants to put glass storm door over my glass patio doors and thinks this will rectify the problem. every time it rains my walls are wet. There’s never been any water in the actual home just in the walls. They have pulled off baseboards and sheet rock and you can see mold and the damage from the water and wood being so wet. The homebuilder now wants to put a glass storm door over my existing French patio doors and thinks this will rectify the problems. I have tried running water all over the doors and around the windows. There are no apparent leaks coming in from those areas. I am clueless and would appreciate any help at this point. Is it really up to the homebuilder to choose to put storm doors over my patio doors instead of fixing the problem? When should I seek legal advice. The first picture is the actual wood rotting away. Builder told me that the door does not need to be replaced and can be patched with silicone and paint it over… Is this even acceptable?
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Silicone is great for fish tanks but terrible for anything else. Remove it all, down to the last molecule! A razor scraper is your friend. Once it's ALL gone you can start finding out where the problem is and I'll warn you it may involve taking the door out.
Look around the wall where the door is first. Is there an outlet or hose bib close by? If you have an outlet it is likely the source of the problem. It could possibly be a hose bib so check it closely as well.
If that's not the case the next place to look is the bottom of the door. Is there a door pan under the door? If not that is likely the problem. The door will need to be pulled and damaged wood replaced. I would coat the floor and up the studs with a liquid flashing like Red Guard then install a soldered pan set in a generous bed of polyurethane sealant. Re-install the door making sure the jamb legs are well sealed at the bottom. Once that's done use low expansion and very judiciously apply it between the jamb and rough framing. At this point, I use 1 X 4" Pvc trim, set in beads of polyurethane and nailed on. We can't see the top of the door but I would also install a head flashing. If it still leaks after that it won't be the door but could be a window on the second floor assuming there is one.
Good luck and let us know what you find.
Florida always has good advice. In addition I would look from the outside. Is there house wrap? Was it properly installed/lapped? did they use flashing tape? is there a head flashing?
On a side note who is the door manufacturer? I'm currently having a devil of a time getting some Jeldwen doors to seal properly and form the photo you may have the same type of door?
That little piece of neoprene at the =bottom of the door doesn't really help seal and I'm thinking it just helps to trap moisture