Correcting moisture issues in floor

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thrytis

New User
Eric
I'm in the process of replacing my living room carpet with bamboo flooring. The subfloor is a concrete slab. When i pulled up the carpet, i discovered the floor around an outside door is damp and the sill rotting. I knew there were some issues there which i though was caused by hole in the rain gutter and/or rain splashing against the door and leaking in, but i patched the hole and put on a storm door months ago. The current moisture content of the wood is about 20%, so i think i still have a problem.

My next guess of the cause is my deck. The deck boards come up directly to the house (against the brick foundation), and the sill sits directly on top of the deck boards. The ledger is directly against the house and also is in contact with the ground. I'm thinking of trimming the ends of the deck boards back 1/4" - 1/2" from the house (maybe with an oscillating tool to avoid having to pull up all the boards), fill with a backer rod, and caulk. I would replace the sill, make sure there was a small gap between the deck and sill, and caulk that. Does that sound like it would remove most of the moisture problems? I know moving the ledger back with some spacers probably would be a better solution, but that would require dismantling and rebuilding most of the deck.

Thanks!
 

BSHuff

New User
Brian
Is there any visible flashing on the ledger board for the deck? The attachment of decks to houses are a very common place for leaks. A picture of how the deck is attached to the house would really help.
 

thrytis

New User
Eric
I didn't see any flashing. I would guess it is screwed into the brick, but i only pulled up one deck board and couldn't see a whole lot down there. I'll snap a couple of pictures tomorrow when it is light.

Thanks.
 

thrytis

New User
Eric
Here are photos.

The sill touching the deck:


Around the side showing the edge of the deck and corner of the house:


The ledger from above. It is hard to see, but it is brick above the ledger.


The ledger from below the deck:


It looks like the ledger here is bolted onto the house. The bolt will go through the brick into the concrete slab behind it.
 

BSHuff

New User
Brian
Initially when I read your post my mind locked on that your sill plate/band was rotting which didn't make as much sense on the slab, now that I read it more I get that it is the door sill.

My best guess from the pictures, is that the water is wicking along the trim board on the horizontal surface beneath the door that contacts the deck. It looks like that board is hard against the deck boards. I would be willing to bet there is no flashing under that door, and the water just keeps wicking when it is wet outside. It is actually quite common for exterior entry doors to leak. The past several exterior doors I have done I used the 'adhesive tape' flashing and put a bead of silicone or sealer along the inside edge of the sill as you replace it. The tape flashing carries some cost, ~$25 roll, but it is a whole lot easier to deal with than tinsnips and sharp edges of the aluminum. One roll should do se

This was the best video I could find on little notice to describe the way to flash the bottom of an exterior door http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZFCtwpYELY like everything building related, I would have done some things slightly different, but...
 

thrytis

New User
Eric
Besides caulk between the threshold and the board under it, there was no flashing. I was able to slide a putty knife between the slab and the board under the threshold, so there wasn't even any caulk under there. Will the tape flashing seal against the brick? Is the flashing typically left exposed or is trim put over it somehow?

Here are a couple of photos with the threshold removed:




Thanks!
 
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