I bought this house just over 2 years ago.
I've noticed that the balcony door tends to leak during heavy storms and the wooden sill inside tends to swell up a bit the next day.
I tried flushing the drains in the frame, and quickly realised that the external drain has been completely sealed off with silicone. I'm not sure if there was a reason for this, or if this was a mistake. The silicone continues along the whole length of the drain and continues with the silicone closing the gap between the doorframe and the wall.
I've made test slits in the silicone and water starts to flows out now. I passed a string of wire and realised it is still a bit tight and doesn't stick out of the drain. Eventually, a piece of cling film like plastic started sticking out of the external drain when I flushed one of the drainage ports. I've pulled out the cling film which made the water flow even better, and I can now easily pass the whole wire through.
My questions are:
I've noticed that the balcony door tends to leak during heavy storms and the wooden sill inside tends to swell up a bit the next day.
I tried flushing the drains in the frame, and quickly realised that the external drain has been completely sealed off with silicone. I'm not sure if there was a reason for this, or if this was a mistake. The silicone continues along the whole length of the drain and continues with the silicone closing the gap between the doorframe and the wall.
I've made test slits in the silicone and water starts to flows out now. I passed a string of wire and realised it is still a bit tight and doesn't stick out of the drain. Eventually, a piece of cling film like plastic started sticking out of the external drain when I flushed one of the drainage ports. I've pulled out the cling film which made the water flow even better, and I can now easily pass the whole wire through.
My questions are:
- What is this plastic cling film thing? Have I just removed something I shouldn't?
- Is there a good reason to seal up the uPVC door's drainage hole? I want to decide if I should just strip away the whole silicone.
