Rain dribbling around door frame

stator

Hi All,

I've been having problems with my back door and would appreciate any input. (no jokes please)

I've removed the inner L shaped plastic trim, as it was coming off and I had some unwanted visitors (woodlice) coming in through the holes.

I started filling the small gap from the top of the door down, but the bit at the bottom the plaster was wet and as you can see I've removed the bits that were soggy. You can't see in the photo but inside the hole there is water dripping down on the inside on the concrete. The wall is a cavity wall with two poured concrete walls. The door is fitted to the outer wall. The wall is the gable end wall. The roof overhangs the wall by a few inches and it has a drip flange about the first floor level.

I added a canopy above the door to try and keep some rain off the back door, but it hasn't had any effect. It's not been flashed into the pebbledash, but there is a a silicone bead. Some water is dripping off from above the door, so I guess it's just flowing down the pebbledash.

But I'm not sure whether the water is coming in around the door, or if it might be dripping down the inside of the cavity.

Any ideas?

Ozzuk

Are the drain holes in the bottom of the upvc frame free? They can get clogged up over time IIRC. I'm going from memory as I have a wooden door atm.

stator

Yes, these two holes are clear. The one on the right (from inside) weeps for days after it's rained, hence the staining.

SatanicHare

The staining would suggest to me that there is water in the reinforcement chamber, try taking off the white external drain cover and drill into the reinforcement chamber via the now exposed external slot. A 5mm drill bit should work, you'll feel the drill go through the thin plastic skin and then hit the steel/aluminium reinforcement, drill a hole in this and hopefully the trapped water will be released

stator

Yes, you were right. Drilling into the chamber has allowed some water to dribble out. I'm not sure if that will help with the water dribbling down the vertical on the inside of the door though

Jonesya

It looks like any water that hits the door (driven by the wind) will be running down the door, hitting the seal at the bottom and assuming the seal isn't perfect, running into the bottom part of the frame, relying on the drains to clear it.

A lot of doors come fitted with a weather bar, or weather deflector on the bottom - it's a piece of profiled wood or UPVC screwed to the bottom of the door and seals again the door surface, forcing any water to run over and drip down away from the door frame.

Might be worth fitting one - at the least, it should reduce the amount of water entering the door frame.

These sorts of things - but shop around, seem to be cheaper on Ebay:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/uPVC-Weather-Water-Deflector-Board/dp/B00JLH8PVE

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WDS-Lancs-Water-Deflector-Weather/dp/B00FOHZ8JW/

stator

It's this bit that's the problem. The water is dribbling down inside the wall, against the door frame and making the plaster wet, the wet plaster has been removed:

Jonesya

For the wet plaster on the sides - I guess there's 3 possibilities:

- It's getting through the silicone sealant between the door-frame and the door opening, so go and check that its continuous without any gaps, holes, or other openings that would let water through - along the top and down the sides.

- If the water is pooling at the bottom of the frame it *could* be wicking up somewhat, so I'd still try to address the water getting into the bottom frame.

- It could be running down inside any cavities within the wall, but that's a different kettle of fish - where could it be getting into the cavity?