Recs for someone to troubleshoot waterproofing issues on deck door
I’ve had ongoing issues with my back deck door for years — when there’s heavy snow or rain water leaks in. Unsurprisingly over this past week it was terrible — a LOT of water was coming despite there being waterproofing on the lower bricks outside and having applied fresh caulk to the door and seams last year. Looking for someone to get to the root of the problem and help me stop the leaking once and for all. Any recs would be great – thank you! [IMG_9613](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:eFvS:img_9613.jpg.jpg) [IMG_9614](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:6CDX:img_9614.jpg.jpg)
annep
in General Discussion 3 years and 10 months ago
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27 replies
bzphofsgzwdgucv | 3 years and 9 months ago
*A Simple Waterproofing Advice*
From the looks of it, I think you used wasted waterproofing material. Try using good chemicals and it would be better if you take advice from a waterproofing professional. They would surely suggest to you the best thing to use.
https://www.keyvendors.com/services/skc-waterproofing-contractor/new/delhi
patrickburnsjr | 3 years and 9 months ago
typo correct: simply
patrickburnsjr | 3 years and 9 months ago
@ Op Annep, My Goodness. How it would work is to simoly remove a 30″x30″ section and reframe. [Sample of Deck Clearance](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:jMr5:sampleofdeckclearance.jpg.jpg) [IMG_1641](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s1/:brownstoner:DdEi:img_1641.jpg.jpg)
annep | 3 years and 9 months ago
The door frame (white wood framing to brick) is fully caulked – I had it redone two years ago when I noticed some cracking. [IMG_0352](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:8ufz:img_0352.jpg.jpg)
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 9 months ago
with a larger screen i looked at the photo and could not tell if there was caulk between the white door frame and the brick on the left side. on a wood door, that would be called the brick mold. maybe a close up of the left side and use the flash. even in daylight, use the flash to fill it out.
stevecym | 3 years and 9 months ago
Now, up close with some light, lower half of the door, so I can see the sides and bottom. I am wondering if the frame is caulked. Or maybe pictures of the frame where it meets the brick, straight on.
If I can get a sense of what is causing this and can tell you what might correct it, it may simply be a handyman job.
Steve cym and doors by are one and the same.
annep | 3 years and 9 months ago
Thanks all! Attaching a pic of the outside of the door. I guess my question still remains – is there anyone that people on the forum recommend to handle a job like this? As is I cannot leave my house if it’s raining because of the amount of water coming through – so time is of the essence.
@carriagehouse99 – when you say cut back the deck, you mean separate the deck away from the door? The deck sits above my downstair’s neighbors bathroom (what used to be the old mudroom) and that’s my sole egress to the deck / access to my half of the backyard, so not sure how that would work. [IMG_0343](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:EXWc:img_0343.jpg.jpg)
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 9 months ago
op should now focus on possible entry points from outside now that we have sort of good pics of inside. the same sort of straight on pics from the outside from brick to brick might help.
some of this, not all of it, but some of it may be the problem of fitting something made for a new suburban house into something built before the idea of the suburbs had been conceived. even if the installers read the out of the box directions, the need for modifications was probably still present.
i would be glad to look at more pics, op.
dorkofwindsor | 3 years and 9 months ago
Is it me or or is that door cut insanely high? It looks an inch too short filled by the vinyl/foam sweep. Or is the exterior sweep at the bottom just adhered to the outside of the door? Does not look appropriate or effective. I’ll defer to Steve on that. Pics are tough.
Does the cement continue out towards the yard and the deck is built on top of the cement? Does it drain well or pool like a bath at the door? You should do a garden hose test. These kind of door installs do make you question the entire flashing and sealing of door and threshold. Just looking at the brick work alone…… there looks to be a lot of cowboy (cow-person?) action in general,
You could go to your local Ace Hardware let the manager know your issue and ask if they know someone local-ish who has half a clue: You’ll have to find someone local on a tiny job like this.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 9 months ago
also, if you do not have a level in the house, one of the small ones, take a measuring cup of water and fill it to one of the lines on it and set it down. look at the graduations. if the water is above the line on the outside of the saddle and lower on the inside by the door, you have a backwards slope.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 9 months ago
if you find someone to work on this who has never done this before and they think a tube of caulk is a silver bullet, they will walk away hoping and praying and will not really give a toss if what they did does not work and if you call them back they may not have any more ideas.
so the yellow arrow, the single one that points to the inside. that one seems to point to the area below the saddle and above that wood. I see evidence of the finish coming off the wood and that looks like is it not wear damage, but damage from water swelling the wood and then drying. the finish pops. and the caulk there? what kind of people do this? i get it if that was for cosmetic reasons, but who ever installed this caulk was probably doing it in case water got in under the saddle, to hold it back so now if it does get in you have rotting wood under there. where is the thinking? (i assume this is not your doing; when we meet homeowners who do this stuff we politely tell them what is wrong and fix it – but paid pros? they are open targets. and if they did this knowing wate r was coming in there and they were trying to lock it in, against the wood and under the saddle you need to call them and demand your money back; even if it was years ago, tell them what they did was damaging your house). we have a house across the street here where i live that had a leak in some wood in the garage and the former homeowner or his contractor caulked the leak in the inside: all this does is trap moisture and cause the wood to rot.
if i were to have done that installation, i would have gotten more stone and set it to the inside by and inch or two beyond the door, sealing the joint between the two pieces of stone and setting the stone on thinset and sealed with thinset around the edges. if i had to put wood there because the customer demanded it (budget) and if i did not refuse the job outright, I would have used marine plywood and trimmed the edge with something. i do not like to stick wood in places where a little water can get in and cause rot. the guys who did this do not know that marine plywood exists and dykes carries it. so does metropolitan and riverhead builders.
I think you said the outside had been sealed. is the joint sealed up the exterior side of the door frame sealed? (what we would otherwise call the brick mold?) and between the saddle and stone? and drill holes in the aluminum saddle? these are often pre drilled for installation. those are the next obvious entry points. the pictures still do not show enough (again, one good shot showing the entire situation on both sides and then the pieces, the problem areas, that is what i ask customers for when they email pictures). in the case of leaks, water might be entering the building from someplace 20′ feet away. in this case i think it is on that door unit and it could be up the sides or under the saddle.
if you can show me something telling on the outside, i might find it and if i do, you might be able to take care of this yourself and even if that does not fix it, you will be that much further ahead when you hire a pro – it will take some of the guess work out for him or her.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 9 months ago
ok, it looks like the sweep is to the bottom of the door. not a sleeve on it. is that where you feel wanter? or, the yellow arrows, you should have drawn them right to where you feel the water, higher if it is between the door bottom and the saddle and its components and lower if is is under the saddle and above the wood.
water between the door and sweep is one thing and water under the saddle, under the unit, is another. if you can clarify i will think about this and how it could get under the saddle. again, i know less about these units and their construction than old stuff.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 9 months ago
also, a big picture looking across the inside with the door closed showing where the leak is coming would have possibly help the part where you say “behind the molding and drywall”. it would be nice to see how the casement is situated and attached to what is obviously a newer door. i am trying to figure out if there is a problem with the brick mold or brick, which there should not be since this has all been sealed, but also the thought that water is coming in from “behind drywall” is confusing as for it to originate behind the drywall, indicates another problem, someplace else. it may be running around the door frame someplace or running down from above someplace and piling up and coming in on the door side of the drywall, but i do not think behind it.
the door has a modern saddle and weather seal. assuming the saddle is not leaking from below, between it and the stone or concrete, and you do state you can feel water it seems over the saddle and under the door, the door sweep on the bottom of the door must be adjusted or replaced. i am less familiar with t his type of sweep as i work on old stuff but these do fail but i also think there will be adjustment screws on the sweep. i think there is possibly a sleeve that holds in the on the bottom of the door and there will be little screws in channels and you should be able to move this up or down a little. i will look at photos again to see if that is the case. if it is not maybe the rubber veins on the sweep are broken or maybe you need a sweep on the outside. when i work on historic doors, i make nice sweeps for the outside myself, but you can get a glue on rubber sweep or a metal topped sweep and drill into the metal to install the metal topped one. i would try to look at the adjustment first.
i think there is water coming in around the gasket on the hinge side. when we make our own door stop with infused vinyl, when this happens, we push it a little closer to the door. maybe on this, it needs to be replaced? we make ours by buying the vinyl replacement strips. if there is a way to adjust that, it can not be too tight,
and the saddle itself. a few months back i got a call about the same situation. and they mentioned the snow. so i put a level on the saddle and it sloped in ward. i was able to break the stone saddle free without cracking it and i tilted it out and then put a sweep on. it only takes a little slope on the saddle. with stone, it is even better to make a flat spot on the top of the saddle where the door sits. this is because as we lower the sweep, it will catch on the saddle when we open and close the door, leading to the thin rubber ripping.
the others mentioned that deck being too close. i would not discount that but would not fully believe that this would not occur in a driving rain for the reasons i mention above. with luck this can be corrected with what i speak of.
i am still not soliciting this job as i really work on wood doors. these new metal units are a little out of my comfort zone and those sweeps on the bottom, i have only installed a couple.
i am tempted to contact my customer who i did the work for in the spring and ask her to comment to what i say above, how she felt about my ideas. i have not heard any complaints after all this rain, so hopefully i was correct.
annep | 3 years and 9 months ago
Appreciate your insight! Attaching more market up photos — excuse the typo, it should say “moulding” not “mounding”. I’ve recently recaulked all the seams outside along the doorframe and the door stop. When there’s been heavy snowfall there’s always been a little bit of leaking that’s happened (noted in one of the pics), but it’s been terrible with the rains recently so something has changed. There’s been a LOT of water coming in from behind the moulding and drywall behind on the one side (none on the other). There’s a hollow space underneath the door jamb and if I put my hand under there I can feel it coming in from there after a solid 10 -15 mins of rain. [IMG_0313](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:PDXr:img_0313.jpg.jpg) [IMG_0314](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:Fgwk:img_0314.jpg.jpg) [IMG_0315](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s2/:brownstoner:heF2:img_0315.jpg.jpg)
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 9 months ago
we do not know what kind of contractor you need. so maybe better photos, larger ones circling the entry points might help and pictures of possibly damaged weather stripping or insulated door stop, sweeps. i think i had a question about the insulated door stop the last time i looked and that was what led me to ask for more photos.
It is very hard for contractors to run around looking at small jobs. they spend more time driving to those jobs than working on them and that is why they do not want to do them (i have found a way around this but in truth, i would still rather do the bigger restoration projects – making things beautiful). it costs money for contractors to drive around this city. I am not trying to solicit this job but when i deal with customers, the first thing i always ask for is photographs – good ones and sometimes i ask for more of them. and then there is a phone call. that is because to do small jobs like this and make money, a contractor must arrive with the materials in hand and go to work.
i could almost say send those to me by emai l but for the sake of the community, it is better answers be posted here.
i am not trying to solicit this job-
annep | 3 years and 9 months ago
Thanks everyone – sorry, for some reason didn’t get notifications these replies were posted. Does anyone have recommendations for someone that could come out and take a look / do the work? Moving the deck is unfortunately not an option.
yudashasom | 3 years and 10 months ago
Cate, yes – thank you for catching that
cate | 3 years and 10 months ago
no-permitz, did you mean this comment for the post about ripping out the passthrough sinks and moldings?
patrickburnsjr | 3 years and 10 months ago
sorry, sp checked-Urbandad