Seeking a Professional to Fix My Exterior Door. Any Suggestions?

Rae G
by Rae G
This happened from rain damage (water). I need someone to repair this.
  5 answers
  • If the wood above the door frame appears to be punky, (soft) this is a sign that the installation of the door and above window were not properly flashed to prevent water infiltration. Very common with that type of window over door set up. The biggest issue is just how far the wood has decayed. If its just the surface area you may be able to get away with a plastic filler after removal of the rotted wood. It can be shaped to match the surrounding wood trim. But that will do little if you do not correct the water issue. And that will require that the door frame or window be pulled and properly reset. What was keeping the water out in the beginning is the contractor used a caulk sealant. While this method works fine short term, you as many have experienced have seen what improper installation methods will cause. While you may never even saw the decay occurring until it got bad enough to show up visually. (which is what the installer had hoped as most likely its past warranty on work) The leak can be actually coming from the top of the window and not right next to the door window area. The only way to correct this is to hire a pro that does doors and windows. You need someone that has carpentry skills. Not a window and door company that sells replacements as they will just caulk again. You may find a contractor by doing a search at the top of the HT page. Or using your local news paper for ideas. IN any case, unless your up to removal of your window and door, this project is better left for a pro. If your home is under 10 years old, it may still have a warranty on it. But this amount of damage usually rears its ugly head around the time that the warranty is over.
    • See 1 previous
    • @Jeanette S Yes and no. When any accessory installed in a wall it needs to be properly flashed, sealed and of course maintained. In the case of a window over a door, or even a window directly installed over another window where they come into close contact with each other a flashing needs to be installed in that area. This flashing is designed to push the water out and over the accessory that is mounted below it. Its shape is such that the top of the flashing is installed under and behind the upper window and bent so it covers the top of the window or door below. This kick out prevents any water from above from getting behind the item below. Properly installed house wrap also comes into play here. While not used as a flashing, it is critical that its installed correctly or it too can cause moisture and water to enter behind the wall structure causing all sorts of rot and decay. If you check any manufactures instructions you will find the details of this flashing that they require to warrant their product against water damage. Very few contractors follow these instructions when installing doors and windows. They just use more caulk. In the case of this door window combo, water has got behind the window frame where it comes into contact with the wall surface. And was allowed to drip behind the wood frame of the door below where it sat and leaked out. Had the owner sealed the space between the door and the window with caulk, the water would have been trapped and allowed to move further down causing even more damage then what you see. Or it could have been trapped in such a fashion that the water would move up and leaked into the framing around the window itself and possibly allowed to enter the house. What has happened in the building industry is that many trades have been removed from the building process as new designs and products enter into the market. The flashing trade was one of the very first that the builders stopped using. They felt that using a caulk instead of a flashing was cleaner, faster and less expensive. After all that was what its all about right? Well in many cases it is, however as the craftsman has left the scene so has the quality of the install. Caulking requires special shaping, types and amounts in every joint. The result is that the hire folks that have no understanding of how to caulk properly or what type of sealant to use, The result is due to their lack of understanding is often the failure of the sealant to adhere to the surface. This results in trapped water behind the surface that only shows up after the damage has occurred.
  • on another note, if you look carefully at the top of the door frame and bottom of window there is a bead of sealant installed. This has allowed water to become trapped on top of the frame while if a proper header flashing was installed when the window and door was installed any leak from the window above would have been diverted out and away from the door trim and frame. I suspect that there is additional damage that will be reveled when the doo trim wood is replaced.
  • Rae G Rae G on Jul 29, 2014
    I am seeking someone to repair it... I reside in GA.
  • do a contractor search at the top of the page.
  • Zabitat Zabitat on Oct 23, 2014
    EntryPoint of Atlanta is a great door contractor in your area. Give Paul or Brett Butler a call or go to their website: www.entrypointatlanta.com