Help - leaking from under door threshold

[les_danger]

Hi, apologies if i'm not using the correct terminology here. I'm not really sure what to do so grateful for any pointers.

I have an old house in need of renovation, solid walls and suspended timber floor. There's a uPVC double door onto the patio, where water seems to be coming in - but from underneath the screed that it sits on. Here's a pic from the inside. The section in the middle is where the threshold above the air brick has collapsed. The water ingress is mainly on the left. This must have been going on for a while as the timber joist and sill have woodworm exit points.

Outdoor view:

I don't know if you call that a sill or a threshold? The air brick cover is temporary as the original has perished. Although the seal between the door and the concrete looks bad, when i watch the water come through in heavy rain it seems to be drawn through the concrete then drips off the bottom edge.

The straight edge is a DPC by the looks of it, it's rigid. The concrete threshold itself seems to wick the moisture as the edge gets wet first then moves backward as the water continues to drip.

In the heavy rain today i tried putting some tiles in front of the step outside to shield it, but that didn't seem to do much. I thought maybe the fall of the threshold outside wasn't steep enough, but water doesn't seem to pool there and i'm confused why a threshold would be made of such a porous material (ok maybe to release the moisture but not to wick it in during rain?).

I'll try and post a video of it dripping in if that's any use. But really keen to get some advice on short term fixes, maybe covering it in Black Jack or storm dry?

Thanks

 

[Wayners]

Maybe tile the top sill and fit aco drain along to carry water to a nearby drain

 

[les_danger]

Cheers Wayners. I tried shielding it from the rain a few days ago when it was driving against it and it didn't seem to make much difference. Thinking about how it's entering i think it might be poor sealant down the sides. The door is a bit of a mess and i expect it wasn't fitted properly to start with. I've bunged more sealant on top (which looks like a total car crash now!) so will see if that makes any difference.

 

[foxhole]

External level too high and exasperated by the single course of bricks with thick cement on top , no sign of dpc, or weep holes which are especially important with an inward opening door.?

 

[les_danger]

hmmm i did a test with the hose. Pointing it at the threshold for a bit didn't result in anything coming through after about 10mins. But when i sprayed the side edges it eventually came gushing through. The leading edge on the inside gets wet first before it wicks back, so i don't think it's the threshold.

The additional silicone i put on it yesterday seems to have done less than nothing. I think i'll wait until a dry week then rake all of it out and try foam rods then new silicone. It's quite annoying because i'm planning on getting a new door put in anyway, but there are a few other things to do first.

 

[les_danger]

External level too high and exasperated by the single course of bricks with thick cement on top , no sign of dpc, or weep holes which are especially important with an inward opening door.?

I agree the outside level looks like it's been raised slightly. However i don't think that's what's causing the ingress. There is a DPC sandwiched between the threshold and the top of the bricks, it forms the straight edge in the last pic. I do need to double check the weep vents on the door threshold, they were OK before but i haven't checked in a while.

 

[foxhole]

I would have expected to see frame installed on the outer brick course , setting it back creates real problems with sealing out weather .

 

[opps]

I am just thinking aloud here... years ago when I built my garage I was gifted a stupidly thick/deep hardwood door sill. I lower side was wayyy too low but I didn't want to offend the person gifting it to me. When it rained heavily, a small amount of water would weep through. I eventually drilled a series of holes, the same size (tiny bit smaller) as the straw on my foam gun and squirted the foam in. It worked incredibly well.

Might be worth considering something similar.