Water leaking under french doors

N

Numbnuts

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Hi All,
I recently installed a set of French doors from the kitchen to the rear garden (myself - I'm not a builder).

There is a gap of approximately 5mm under the bottom of the door frame which was filled with concrete. When it rains heavily, the rain water saturates this concrete strip and water enters the kitchen. I am just starting to tile the kitchen floor and think this needs to be solved prior to tiling over the damp patch which is appearing on the concrete kitchen floor.

Any suggestions as to how this would be best dealt with?

Many thanks
 
Sounds like to need a cill / threshold to keep the water out. You can usually buy these pre made - details of popular door manufacturer here (wooden doors)

[broken link removed]

Go to product overview -> catalogue -> terrace doors. Cill detail here
 
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It's not clear from your description where this water is coming from exactly, or what preventive methods you've already installed.

Is there a weather strip or lip on the outside of the french doors to prevent water from entering beneath the door? Do you have any kind of weather strip, damp proof course or seal around the door frame?
 
Thanks for the quick replies.

I'll try to describe in more detail, hope this doesn't confuse the issue.

There is a step of approximately 200mm from the kitchen floor down to the outside level. The French doors have been installed on top of the step, with the outer face of the door almost flush with the front face of the step (approx 5mm lip of concrete step protruding from under the door frame).

When building up the door opening to take the doors, I installed a vertical DPM between the outer leaf and the block returning to the inner leaf. A DPM was also installed above the lintel. Following installation of the doors, I filled the minor gaps around the sides and bottom of the frame with expanding foam (very messy stuff). Under the door frame I only filled with concrete. I understand that this is the problem and the reason for water entering. It is a very easy job to remove the concrete under the door frame (this is not supporting the doors), I really need advice on what product (if any) I can install to prevent this re-occuring.

Thanks.
 
Sounds definitely like a threshold strip - check the rationel website for typical details. SOme of these should be available at DIY Stores.
 
Apologies for "hi-jacking" this thread but my situation may be similar.

My wife has just called me to tell me that the builders have installed our new granite front door-step but that the top step is flush with the floor in the hallway. As this is a north by north-west facing door we are concerned that the rain will just lie on this step then flood into the hallway. (Also, I don't think any damp-proofing was used)

Are our concerns justified? Is there anything we can do?

ALERT.
 
Exitex are an Irish company that produce an excellent range of door thresholds, check out this link:

http://www.exitex.com/

They produce a product for almost every configuration. In the case of an existing timber door it may also be appropriate to fit a timber drip moulding onto the exterior face of the door; this typically would be about 75x 50 or 100x 75mm in size, roughly triangular in profile with an drip groove mouled into the underside to prevent driving rain from being blown under the door. I would fix such a moulding to the bottom of the door and caulk the joint with an acrylic sealant before decorating.
 
Thanks Carpenter that's great.

Can this also be applied to the door frames on eith side of the door, each are approximately 18 inches wide?

ALERT.
 
Are these opening doors or fixed lights? There is no reason why the same solution could not be applied I suppose. A drip moulding is a very traditional detail which is rarely seen on new doors now.
 
My apologies Carpenter, the door frames I referred to are in fact the door frame for the front door, each side of the door approximately 18 inches wide, I need to stop the rain and water seeping under these also. Would the drip moulding suffice for these or does something else need to be done?
 
Still not sure I get you, 18" wide door frames? Are these "side lights"/ glazed panels which are part of the overall door frame? If these are just sitting down on the floor/ step there's very little you can do without refitting the whole door and frame, so fitting a drip moulding may be the easiest solution. Combine that with some good sealant, like RITO, which is easier to use than silicone and longer lasting, specially designed for use in these situations.
 
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