Advice on how to rectify this mess please

[Dougie212]

Hi there.

So a short time ago I had a builder come and install this door. We had an old wooden door with an arched window above which was lovely to look at but rotting. The builder came and installed his!! (see pictures).. The window arch was removed, replaced with a sheet of PVC and sealed. The mess you see to the left is where our mains cable entered into the house. This has since been moved so the whole thing looks even more unsightly now.

We are hoping to move soon, and so really don't want to have too much excess cost of replacing the whole door with arched window on top. Im looking for some suggestion on how to make this look better. Are arched windows (im sure theres a technical name) available on their own? or would a fresh, piece of PVC be the only real solution here without replacing the whole thing?

The other Im having is that the door is quite draughty. I know its not the best door, but is there some sort of seal I can buy to replace the current one, to create a better seal between door and frame? The draught seems to be coming in the the bottom of the door and top corner, opening side.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Im not getting the builder back to rectify any of this, as when it was fitted the frame was sealed at the bottom, on the outside....... resulting in the rain pouring into our porch... I rectified that, after getting no response from a number of phone calls to him.. lesson well and truly learnt.

Thanks,
Dougie.

 

[crank39]

As for the arch then for cheapness its more of the same really.

The draughts can be cured by adjusting the frame keeps to hopefully pull the door tighter onto the rubbers, has your door got a low aluminium threshold? If the draught is coming in under the door rather than the sides then the door COULD of been toe and heeled too far or too high meaning the rubbers on the door don't meet and drag on the threshold, looking at the internal picture it does look as though the handle side is higher but thats comparing it to the trim above which could be out of level itself

 

[Dougie212]

Hi Crank.. thanks for your answer. Am I looking at quite an expensive alternative to the sheet in the arch then?

Im a bit unknowing when it comes to upvc doors. Is it easier for me to take a pic of the bottom of the door and frame whilst its open and you can see what I have...

 

[crank39]

Yes, the alternative is what to have an arched toplight made which will be close to the same price as you paid for the door, don't know what you paid then but if you had it made with the arched it would of doubled in price.

Need photos from outside along the bottom with the door shut, door open and of the frame keeps

 

[Gazman16]

Door should be fully adjustable assuming its fitted correctly.
Corner welds look like the like up so thats good news at least. Should just be a case of adjusting the hinges or the locking strip.
Close and lock the door and feel for where the drafts are coming from. Hinge side or lock side, Top or bottom

 

[Dougie212]

Thanks for your responses both..!! The draught seems to be coming from the lock side. It almost feels like its coming from top, bottom and lock side.... but surely not.. When the door is closing it does make a bit of a 'wedging' noise/squeak... and sometimes we have to give it a shove at the bottom to get the locks to engage when we lift the handle up before locking it with the key. Ive taken some more photos which hopefully make some sense to you guys.

 

[crank39]

WOW the pictures tell a thousand words, where to start?

Ok so its a Rehau door so thats a good start.

The keeps top and bottom that are slanted could really do with straightening, this will gain you some compression on the rubbers straight away, ignore the screws that are side by side which just hold the lock strip to the frame, the other 2 screws above and below the slanted cup need loosening by HALF a turn, loosen and push the sliding keep outwards towards the outer rubber, do one at a time, this will help no end, if after you've done both the handle is difficult to lift then you've probably gone too far, there are little teeth in there that allow for adjustment in 1mm increments so just knock it back a bit and lock it off with the screw you loosened

The black wedge at the bottom is defo catching the door or the door is catching the wedge, in some ways thats good as its known as a 'run up block', the door rides up this when closing and keeps it square in the frame, personally i hate the damn things and if i can do away with them i will, your door clearly has dropped a little hence why its rubbing, it needs toe and heeling so it doesn't rub, not a big job and something you can do yourself but trying to expain how in words is like trying to explain the offside rule to a woman

The most striking thing is and perhaps the most serious is the lack of silicone sealant along the bottom! Reason its not there is to let the water out through the drainage slots, your threshold is full of dirt......get it cleaned out and pour a little water into the drainage slots at each end, water should drain away from under the door and the concrete sill, that is known as concealed drainage and the door should be sitting on a pvc sill, probably an 85mm stub sill, IF like in your case the door is sitting direct onto the concrete then it should of had whats called 'face drain' which is exit slots drilled into the face of the frame and covered with 2 little push on face drain caps to tidy it up, this all points to a builder ordering and fitting the door to me, ideally the door needs to come out and have the concealled drainage slots sealed up and new face drain slots drilled, i doubt you'll want to take it that far so the only alternative is to leave the bottom of the frame unsealed to let the water out, it wont help the draughts though, it could even be the cause of your draught

 

[Dougie212]

Cool.. thanks Crank.. so... jobs for tomorrow are to adjust the keeps. Is there any way of drilling some face drains into the frame with the door in situ? There used to be silicon on the outside, however we had to remove it because when it rained the water would flood inside... removing that silicone prevented that issue.

Ive had a look at toe and healing on youtube.. and from what I see involved removing the centre panel and fitting plastic wedges?? Does that sound like what needs doing? I just cant find anything that suggests any other way of toe and heeling that seems to lift the door as a whole..

Thanks very much for your help so far!!

 

[crank39]

Yes you can drill holes in the face but unless you seal the other ones underneath your not gaining anything as the water would still drain out the lowest hole.

Yes removing the silicone was the only option otherwise it would flood backwards into the house like you encountered

Toe and healing is effectively adding a diagonal support like you see on a farmers gate - remove that and in time the gate will sag.

From inside if you can imagine a dotted line running diagonally from the top corner handle side down to the bottom corner hinge side, this is your brace i.e. the panel, with the beads removed note the panel probably doesn't touch the door ANYWHERE around the edge apart from bottom corner and top corner unless packers have been slipped in after the packing/jacking was done, if any have been placed in the bottom handles side they need to be removed. There should be a 5-6mm gap all round apart from those corners i mentioned, the method of toe and heeling is to add thin packers to the top corner of the panel, using a bolster chisel in the gap as close to the corner as you can get lever upwards and slide glazing packers in the gap created, this effectively lengthens the diagonal brace and pushes the door corner up, hence where toe and heel comes from, the heel is the bottom corner(digging your heel in) the toe is at the top(tip toe, to gain a little extra height)

 

[Dougie212]

Thats perfect!!.. I dont suppose theres a way to access the holes that I need to seal from the top of the frame is there?? A bit codgey but could I drill access holes from above (assuming I can find out where the holmes are) and grommet or fill them afterwards?

 

[foxhole]

If you are moving then don’t waste your money, will have no effect of the sale price.

 

[geraldthehamster]

Talk about knocking value off a house. If I were looking at buying it, I would be factoring in the cost of getting a proper window light made and refitted, along with a proper timber front door and frame. And knocking that off my offer.

 

[God]

Wouldn't of bothered with an arched frame for the top of the door as there is a solid wall behind it so you would of used a panel to cover it. Maybe take the flat panel off and fit a bit of shiplap cladding.

 

[Dougie212]

Gerald... yep.. your right.. and we have considered having it replaced with a wooden door and frame with the window light back in.. to be honest, its still a thought.. God.. the plaster boarding was done by the builder when he took the old door and arch out... Probably whats making it so cold in my porch is the fact that the only thing separating us from the outside in that area is a piece of plasterboard and a piece of PVC with a hole in it. Its been a few years.. but to say I was gutted to have come home and found his done is an understatement... and to not be able to contact him afterwards by any means... absolutely gutted..

 

[Dougie212]

The sad thing is Gerald.. we are working round the house negating exactly things like that.. sprucing and making improvements to help our sellability... we're in no rush, so the more we can do to help with our final sell price the better... and its always been my concern that the door a) doesn't go with the features of the house and b)has zero kerbside appeal.