Water ingress newly installed composite door

[evekell]

Hi I'm really at a loss of how to fix this issue and hoping someone could help.I had a new composite door fitted 1st of July. Our old door was in an open porch but new door we got was moved forward and concrete was filled behind the new door to bring flooring up to level with the existing hallway. First issue we had was the fitter poured the concrete too high and didn't level the concrete properly. Door was catching so we had to call fitter back out to rectify this by using a grinder and leveling the concrete correctly.Second issue was when it rained we noticed water seeping in through the threshold. We rang door company and they sent someone out to silicone around the door and check alignment, weather stripping ect. Still no joy and water continued to come in when it rained. Fitter called out and removed the threshold to put in new dpc incase the old one was damaged during the grinding of the concrete when re levelling. Threshold was reinstalled but still water getting in. Another call out was done by the fitter and this time he put composite MDF over the threshold and silicone inside and outside of door along the threshold. He also filled an external space on the left side of the door with cement. At this moment it rained heavy last night and this morning there is a small patch of water inside. It definitely has reduced but I'm 4 months trying to get this fixed and I feel like the fitter has run out of ideas of how to rectify it really. I have been unable to floor my hallway as I'm patiently waiting to get this  resolved I have young kids so it's very frustrating. I have attached photos below. Last pic is the damp were still getting at the moment.

[Nickfromwales]

Did the bigger patch on the right of the picture of the concrete appear with the first rain, or after the cement was filled into the vertical gap outside? That is the one that worries me the most as it’s a significant amount of water getting in and it’s quite far into the porch. Does it dry up if it’s not been raining?

 

I’d guess this is coming in from either poor sealing at the side of the doorframe, or worse, damp being drawn up out of the ground if the damp course hasn’t been done correctly. 

 

Did you see them put a membrane down under the new concrete?

 

My gut feeling is that this hasn’t been installed to be fundamentally weathertight, and the fitter isn’t very competent. I think the door will need to be removed and reinstalled properly, by someone who understands the job.
 

Adding silicone etc is a complete waste of time as water is getting to the concrete under all of that cosmetic coverup. Also silicone is useless unless everything is completely bone dry, as it will not stick to damp or wet surfaces.

 

This just sounds like you chose a poor fitter and he’s just not able to do this work properly. Good that he’s been back to try and resolve, but his efforts are clearly of no use.

[Marvin]

Hi @evekell

 

A quick check to see if the bottom door seal is working is to pour a small amount of cold water on the outside of the door when it is closed and see if it goes into the house. 

 

I have done this with ours before now by using a COLD kettle and pouring a trickle about a foot from the bottom of the door, onto the door and frame, across the entire width of the door from the frame one side to the other.

 

If the bottom seal is damaged it will leak

 

If the door has been raised in the frame too high it will leave a gap between the bottom of the door and the seal and leak.

 

This is a simple and easy thing to cross off the list of potential problems before doing any serious work.

 

Good luck

 

M

 

[ADLIan]

No cill section under door & frame?

[evekell]

Hi Marvin, thanks for that, just poured the water over the door as you suggested and checked it afterwards. All seems to be ok with the seal. After the fitter sealed the outside left area with cement between door and outside wall support pillar this stopped the big patch of water that was coming in near the wall on the left hand side. I'm just thinking maybe there maybe a porous area or gap with the original walls that water is getting in somewhere still. It's very hard to exactly pinpoint it. I'm hoping that the small patch we have a the moment all we need to rectify. I'm hoping the other patches are not just temporarily sealed and I'm dreading after a few months when flooring is down that it reoccurs. Maybe I need to get door company to get another fitter or building company to check as I really feel they have no idea what elso to do,unless they replace the door which I know they do not want.

[evekell]

2 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Did the bigger patch on the right of the picture of the concrete appear with the first rain, or after the cement was filled into the vertical gap outside? That is the one that worries me the most as it’s a significant amount of water getting in and it’s quite far into the porch. Does it dry up if it’s not been raining?

 

I’d guess this is coming in from either poor sealing at the side of the doorframe, or worse, damp being drawn up out of the ground if the damp course hasn’t been done correctly. 

 

Did you see them put a membrane down under the new concrete?

 

My gut feeling is that this hasn’t been installed to be fundamentally weathertight, and the fitter isn’t very competent. I think the door will need to be removed and reinstalled properly, by someone who understands the job.
 

Adding silicone etc is a complete waste of time as water is getting to the concrete under all of that cosmetic coverup. Also silicone is useless unless everything is completely bone dry, as it will not stick to damp or wet surfaces.

 

This just sounds like you chose a poor fitter and he’s just not able to do this work properly. Good that he’s been back to try and resolve, but his efforts are clearly of no use.

Hi Nick, I'm not sure if a damp course was put down under the concrete. The patch inside the wall was after the first rainfall however after the fitter removed and replaced dpc under the door threshold it rained quite soon after and the area was worse. It has only stopped after the wall area outside was filled with cement.i do think from day one the job was rushed and the fitter was not as you say competent to be filling, levelling and moving the door out. If it was just a straight forward changing the old door inside the porch it would be fine. I think I may need to get the company now to maybe get someone external that is qualified to actually find out what is happening. Currently we have only a small patch of damp and the other patches are just stains in the concrete. I'll attach a picture but it's hard to see.

[Nickfromwales]

2 minutes ago, evekell said:

Hi Nick, I'm not sure if a damp course was put down under the concrete. The patch inside the wall was after the first rainfall however after the fitter removed and replaced dpc under the door threshold it rained quite soon after and the area was worse. It has only stopped after the wall area outside was filled with cement.i do think from day one the job was rushed and the fitter was not as you say competent to be filling, levelling and moving the door out. If it was just a straight forward changing the old door inside the porch it would be fine. I think I may need to get the company now to maybe get someone external that is qualified to actually find out what is happening. Currently we have only a small patch of damp and the other patches are just stains in the concrete. I'll attach a picture but it's hard to see.

The damp ingress is all the way under the threshold, from side to side, and that’s a big issue that needs to be addressed robustly. 
 

The cement that’s been put in the gap needs to be painted, then a frame / external sealant from that to the door frame to be weathertight. 
 

Also, there should be a piece of D section (referred to as makeup) over this joint.

 

[evekell]

3 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Did the bigger patch on the right of the picture of the concrete appear with the first rain, or after the cement was filled into the vertical gap outside? That is the one that worries me the most as it’s a significant amount of water getting in and it’s quite far into the porch. Does it dry up if it’s not been raining?

 

I’d guess this is coming in from either poor sealing at the side of the doorframe, or worse, damp being drawn up out of the ground if the damp course hasn’t been done correctly. 

 

Did you see them put a membrane down under the new concrete?

 

My gut feeling is that this hasn’t been installed to be fundamentally weathertight, and the fitter isn’t very competent. I think the door will need to be removed and reinstalled properly, by someone who understands the job.
 

Adding silicone etc is a complete waste of time as water is getting to the concrete under all of that cosmetic coverup. Also silicone is useless unless everything is completely bone dry, as it will not stick to damp or wet surfaces.

 

This just sounds like you chose a poor fitter and he’s just not able to do this work properly. Good that he’s been back to try and resolve, but his efforts are clearly of no use.

Hi Nick, I'm not sure if a damp course was put down under the concrete. The patch inside the wall was after the first rainfall however after the fitter removed and replaced dpc under the door threshold it rained quite soon after and the area was worse. It has only stopped after the wall area outside was filled with cement

[evekell]

Hi Nick thanks for that observation and taking your time to reply.I will relay this back to the fitter or get someone more competent to do this. Would the water track from over their to the center think which is our current issue or do you think it may be something else?

[Nickfromwales]

36 minutes ago, evekell said:

Hi Nick thanks for that observation and taking your time to reply.I will relay this back to the fitter or get someone more competent to do this. Would the water track from over their to the center think which is our current issue or do you think it may be something else?

Water will definitely track / sit all along the threshold, which makes it even harder to discover exactly where it’s coming in. 
 

The extra silicone outside is probably adding to the problem, as the water cannot escape.

 

You either stop the water getting in, or leave it a way for it to get out.

[evekell]

Yes I agree , I forgot to mention after they filled space outside with cement they also put a piece of MDF type cladding(black in colour) over the threshold and silicones this???