PVC French doors and rear door problem. Dispute with installer - advice needed pls.

RickMoney

Hi,

We've had new windows and doors installed throughout and we have issues on our french doors and the rear door.

Both are inward opening doors. There are small leaks at the bottom, below the frame. The french doors are on 1st floor so can see leak on ceiling below and the rear door is showing the leak to the floor internally.

In both instances they are blaming the builders that have been doing the general build but obviously they say it's the doors.

I've seen that in both cases, the bottom of the frames (kickplates?) have been fixed in place by big screws that must have gone through the drip tray below and be letting in water?

You can see in the attached image that the screws have caused cracks on the kickplate.

My builder says the kickplates are usually glued?

Any advice please before I go back to the installer?

Thanks

Furts

You could try some detective work by sealing over the fixing with silicone and then see if you still get water ingress.

On a general observation, there is a lot of grime around -why?, the drainage slot is obstructed - why? the drainage slot has swarf that has not been removed - why?, the seal is pinched or damaged -why? the pinched or damaged seal may be letting water go past it, the doors may be catching on the cill - there is damage to the profile that may have been caused by this...

If I can make these observations based on a small picture, I am wondering what the rest of the installation is like.

Have you, or your builder, flagged up any of these items?

I hope this helps.

RickMoney

Hi, Thanks for the reply.

My builder suggested they may need to take out the screw, put some silicone in the hole at the bottom (in the drip tray below) that it will have made then put a washer and more silicone around the hole at the top of the screw.

The grime I believe will be when they drilled the brickwork to do the fixing and it's the dust. I had not noticed the swarf or the seal damage when they first looked at it but I'll do a careful check on it before they return. The depression the screw causes means the water runs to it.

I don't want to put the silicone in myself in case they then say that has caused the problem.

I'm keen to know if it's normal practice to screw in the bottom bar or if they should have used adhesive.

Furts

The fixings are normal unless there is a specific reason why they should not be used. If you think about practicalities, the doors could slam with considerable force if someone is heavy handed, or if they were caught by the wind. Hence a reliable, solid fixing is needed.

I accept that expanding foam could be used, but this is not the main means of fixing frames. It is more a back up if it is not possible, or practical, to use frame anchors.

Clearly, I do not know your precise details, but the water should go out the drain slots, and the drainage exits need checking - are they present, are they unobstructed? Do you have weatherbars fixed to the doors and if so are they silicone sealed to the profiles?

RickMoney

We had to get them to come back and fix weatherbars to the doors but I need to check if they are siliconed.

The exits have been tested by them pouring water in and seeing it drain out the leak isn't a large one, it's more akin to water seeping through a crack/hole and slowly working along a joist. That's why I think it must be the screw hole below.

Thanks for clarifying it's not unusual for screws to be used, it just seems that in this case they are not working properly.