Water leaking from inside UPVC door

[marvelman]

Hi all, hoping for some help with a rather annoying issue with my upvc front door.

Basically, moved into a new house a couple of months ago and it’s a familiar story of water coming from the bottom… however it is leaking from inside the door itself, rather than the door frame. I’ve cleaned out the drainage holes in the frame and poured water to verify that they are indeed draining.

The issue only occurs when the door is swung open - there’s no leaking or sign of water when closed. It’s almost as if the centrifugal force of swinging the door (or perhaps the door is angled downwards slightly from the hinge side?) causes the trapped water to surge out. And I mean surge, there’s often quite a lot!

After studying where it was leaking, I managed to spot it coming out of the hole circled in red on the attached photo, at the very bottom of the door. Sorry, I’m not sure what this part is called!

Any idea how the water might be getting in? I’ve read that the doors are designed to allow water in to some extent (or rather allow it to drain out if it does enter), but clearly something is not working properly - whether I am missing drainage holes somewhere, or there is a joint/gap somewhere on the front face of the door itself that needs sealing, I have no clue.

I managed to get a mirror under the door to see what was going on, thinking perhaps there may be drainage holes underneath that were blocked, but it’s just a uniform piece of metal - no holes.

Naturally, any help or guidance at all would be massively appreciated. Fed up of wet socks when answering the door!

(PS. Unsure of age of door, but certainly not more than 10 years I reckon, it’s in pretty good nick generally.)

 

[CBW]

How did a picture of a sad face and black hair appear? Joking aside, have you checked the glass or letterbox? Reason I ask is, our new build (at the time) was leaking at one of those points.

 

[marvelman]

How did a picture of a sad face and black hair appear? Joking aside, have you checked the glass or letterbox? Reason I ask is, our new build (at the time) was leaking at one of those points.

Interesting, thank you. I hadn’t considered those parts - there’s nothing obvious but I guess there could be micro cracks in the sealant? I haven’t taken the letterbox itself off, but it doesn’t appear to be flush with the door at the top. But then wouldn’t I have seen/felt some moisture around that area? Perhaps not if it’s draining down I suppose.

Would putting just some sealant on those places do the trick? Any tips?

 

[CBW]

Firstly, I’d check to see if the door is under warranty, if it is, get manufacturer out. If not, you could always use a watering can, and pour some water at those points on a dry day, and see if water emanates.

 

[KenGMac]

By any chance? is there something blocking that [red ringed] drain hole, not the drain hole itself, rather something in the door frame at the sill that is stopping the water escaping ?

Meaning the water can only be released when the door is opened??

Ken.

 

[marvelman]

By any chance? is there something blocking that [red ringed] drain hole, not the drain hole itself, rather something in the door frame at the sill that is stopping the water escaping ?

Meaning the water can only be released when the door is opened??

Ken.

Sorry for the delay Ken, that was an interesting observation - I hadn’t considered it, but on looking on the part of frame where this hole would be positioned when closed, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to spot.

Another odd thing was that I was able to force water out of the door through that hole (by using an aggressive, rapid open and close movement) even after several days without rain, and after having already emptied it out, or so I’d thought. My conclusion was that this must be ‘historic’ water (!) that had been sitting in the door for some time.

Firstly, I’d check to see if the door is under warranty, if it is, get manufacturer out. If not, you could always use a watering can, and pour some water at those points on a dry day, and see if water emanates.

Thanks CBW, I followed your advice and there did seem to be more water emanating from the hole after pouring water on some aged-looking sealant at the bottom of main UPVC panel. I’ve sealed over with new clear silicone, along with a few other spots (including the bottom of the glass and around the letterbox) and so far no leaking… famous last words. Typically we haven’t had a particularly wet January so I’m paranoid I haven’t actually solved the problem!