Water getting in uPVC door

[Mr. Clueless]

This is a weird one...

Rained a little today but nothing spectacular or prolonged. I get home & check the step.

Inside is wet on the sides a little but not centre. Outside is quite dry by now except from the centre which is only from the drain off (when water gets inside the door - so i guess water is clearly getting inside the door).

Have dinner, spend time online. A few hours pass.

Go downstairs, notice the concrete step on the inside is now wet from side to side. I feel the door & there's no obvious drips from the door.

I take a look out (& this is the strange part to me) - it's not raining, i'm not sure it's been raining this evening - because the step on the outside is the same as it was really. Wet in the middle from that drain off point but dry on the sides.

This baffles me.

 

[Gazman16]

Water is a funny old thing, It can get through the tinyist hole or soak through a foot of concrete.
Have you coated the step with something yet?
Keep an eye on the bottom threshold to see if any water is getting into that. It could also be possible the water it tracking down those bottom screws into the concrete.

As for the door drip if it is really loose you can screw right through it and stick some white plastic screw caps over the screws.

 

[OuterSpaceHopper]

Maybe it isn't called a drip cill, looks like the one I bought was called a 'drip bar'. Anyhow, yes the strip along the bottom of the door that directs water away from the thresh hold. My door didn't have one, and on certain windy rainy days, the door might as well have been a funnel into the porch. Water ran down the door and into the frame, then made its way through the frame screws and into the porch.

The drip bar just slides onto a couple of self tapping screws, then a quick streak of sealant along the top where it meets the door to stop rain running down the back of it.

The seals on your door look a little squished as well. If you don't know the door type, you can buy kits from ebay to try to identify the specific profile of your door seals, then order a new door seal of the correct type. Not always possible to find a match though.

How tight does your door close? It is possible to adjust the door lock so that the latch only engages when the door compresses the seal, i.e. makes a tighter seal against the frame.

Sealing the door step with paint also seems very worthwhile, although I don't have one myself, so I've never seen a porous one!

 

[Mr. Clueless]

Gazman - no haven't coated the step yet. I bought in that Thompsons water seal. It says to apply 10c & above which would've been fine for Monday but not today as the car was reading out 4c. I could've still applied it but i want to follow the guidelines proper so that i know it will at least have been done 'right'.

This 'strip' is it what i've arrowed:

It's a bad photo really. That strip doesn't touch the edges. I've siliconed it on so it doesn't move now.

And that funny colour above the white sealant on the step is where we tried copper tape to stop slugs getting in.

As for this screw you're talking about, i was thinking of replacing the one that is in there but i don't really know what sort of screw it is. The thickness of it or the length. Plus i'm bothered that if i try & remove it it'll snap.....

Yeah it needs a clean out i know.


As for the rubber seals on the door - i replaced the one that was the worst. I didn't think the others were too bad.

But no, the door doesn't shut 'tight'. You can hear it on a windy day so there must be an air gap. That'll be why there was that draught strip installed then.


ANYWAY................

Today like the windows, i had the hosepipe on the door. I was spraying right in the corners of the outside step, right along where i sealed. Nothing came through.
I saturated the step - nothing came through.

I sprayed all over that strip i arrowed - nothing came through
I sprayed in an upwards & downwards motion, even though rain wont be coming up from the ground - nothing came through.
I sprayed all down the right hand side of the door - nothing.
I sprayed to the left side of the door - nothing.
I sprayed just all over the door, the walls, the step, everywhere - nothing.

Officially stumped (moreso!)

This & the windows. If i had any hair i'd be pulling it out!!

 

[Gazman16]

Most likely a size 5, 60-100mm screw. Its pretty rusty so yes there is a good chance it may snap when you try to remove it.
Personally I wouldn't worry about it for now and see how coating the cill goes.

 

[OuterSpaceHopper]

Yep, that is the drip bar. I'm no expert but I wouldn't touch the screw.

Are you finding water in bottom of the frame, (thresh hold) under the door? Sealant over the top of the screw might help, but really, you need to find out how the water is getting in there.
e.g. door lock not set so that the door forms a tight seal
dodgy door seal,
Water running down the door and passing behind the Drip bar, or the drip bar not being deep enough to clear the outside edge of the frame.

Sealing the concrete cill seems worthwhile to me, and check the silicone under the frame as well.

 

[Mr. Clueless]

Little bit of a development perhaps?

I've found that it isn't totally down to the rain that is causing the wet on the step on the inside. I meant to update this thread a few weeks ago but one morning i went downstairs to see the internal step was dry & it hadn't been raining. Later on the internal step had started to go dark yet it still hadn't been raining.
I've since put silicone around where that screw head is.

As i've left it a few weeks i can't remember if i took those photos at the exact same time but i think i did. Either way i do remember the internal step had started to get damp while the vast majority of the external step was dry.

For anyone new to this - i have previously spoken about damp under the floor (we have a sump pump under there, but the actual water level doesn't touch the step or come close to it).

 

[crank39]

Right just a gut feeling, could it be the door was manufactured with concealed drainage by mistake and then the fitters drilled the one face drain hole in front but failed to seal up the 2 drain slots now under the frame hence why the internal step is wet at each end, the photo shows the face drainage is working outside as the middle of the step is wet. Another possibility is water is sitting inside the chamber and seeping through the welds at each end and then coming inside

 

[Mr. Clueless]

I really don't know to be honest.

I don't think the step gets wet-wet as in water forming on top like beads. It just colours up & gets damp.

Just in the event we can't get this sorted (we've had a lot of money going out lately & to start ripping out door frames as well as everything else going on is just a non starter).......

would having DPC running on top of the step, tucked down between the step & floorboards & then carpet etc on top of this be 'ok' (as ok as a patch up is)? This would, i assume, stop the carpet from getting wet/damp as well as stop the damp transferring to the floorboards too.

Obviously fixing is the ideal situation but if we can't for now.....?

 

[Gak888]

I really don't know to be honest.

I don't think the step gets wet-wet as in water forming on top like beads. It just colours up & gets damp.

Just in the event we can't get this sorted (we've had a lot of money going out lately & to start ripping out door frames as well as everything else going on is just a non starter).......

would having DPC running on top of the step, tucked down between the step & floorboards & then carpet etc on top of this be 'ok' (as ok as a patch up is)? This would, i assume, stop the carpet from getting wet/damp as well as stop the damp transferring to the floorboards too.

Obviously fixing is the ideal situation but if we can't for now.....?

Did you ever manage to find out the cause of this issue? I have something similar.