Wooden front door - problems!

Rizzle

I recently had a lot of work done on my house by some builders. Most of the work they did was great, however I have had problems with the front door they installed.

I'm not sure if it is the way they installed it, or a problem with wooden front doors in general.

The problem is that whenever it rains, water leaks inside under the door straight away. I told my builder this, and they installed a slanted piece of wood at the base of the outside of the door, but this has not really made a difference. As the job was pretty much over, the builders are long gone, and impossible to get hold of.

And as the water is getting in, under the door, the wood seems to expand and get stuck in the frame.

Does anyone else have a wooden front door, and a similar problem?

Please help, as it really is doing my head in!

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

pcyumjb

Is the door inwards opening or outwards? It makes quite a big difference.

shellsuit

You need a rubber strip(dont know what its called) to fit over the slant, but it needs to be slightly longer than the slant piece so water runs down it and doesn't come under the door.

My back door is the same.

adonis

I had the same problem, i had to take off the piece of sloping wood on the bottom of the door (i can;t remember the proper name for it) and run some silicone sealer along it as the water was running behind it and not being deflected away.

Make sure as well that all of the door has some woodstain or sealer on it including top and bottom.

uncle_buck_3

The water shouldn't get under your door if it's fitted correctly.

The bottom of doors used to be rebated to fit over a steel strip that was set into the doorstep, this system worked….however nowadays they tend to use fittings like this:
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?cId=A332983&ts=40715&id=27432#

Avoriaz

You need to get that water ingress fixed quickly or it will soon lead to other problems such as damp and rot in the wood.

Have you paid in full yet. The builders really should sort this out properly for you.

If most of their work was to a good standard I presume you have or had a good relationship with them. Phone or write telling them of the problem and politely but firmly insist that they return to fix it.

Remember that builders are people you employed on a professional basis and you paid them to do a professional job. Even if you became very pally with them, don’t let that get in the way of demanding a proper and complete job to your satisfaction.

Moneymaker

I think "the builders are long gone, and impossible to get hold of" is a clue that that ain't gonna happen.

Avoriaz

Moneymaker wrote:

I think "the builders are long gone, and impossible to get hold of" is a clue that that ain't gonna happen.

Only if they are cowboys. Presumably they are a local firm who can be got hold of with some persistence.

If I was in that situation I would contact them and give them 7 days to respond, saying that if they don’t respond I would have the work done by someone else and claim the costs back, via the courts if necessary. I would be polite but very firm.;)