# Rotting wood around door



## Tellebot (Jun 11, 2016)

Our storm door blew off in a bad storm and broke the doorframe when it went. We are putting in a new door which needed to be done anyway. 

Our old house doesn't accommodate modern door sizes so previous owners put up boards to shrink the doorway. The boards had rotted right at the floor and up about 7 inches. 

When we pulled them off we found the floorboards right underneath are also showing signs of rot. They are...squishy and springy. They run under the sill for the front door because they are the floorboards in our enclosed porch. 

So my question is what do we do about this small section? My other question is what do we need to do to prevent the new boards from rotting themselves?

I took a couple photos because I don't know if I'm explaining it very clearly. The area in question is on the left side of the doorway. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1465693096.080664.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1465693126.275025.jpg


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## oldognewtrick (Jun 11, 2016)

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's the Christmas lights that are causing the problem.....sorry, couldn't resist.

Flashing, there is none. Think of it this way, tuck your rain coat in your pants and wonder why you butt is wet. Water needs to shed off. Those boards have no way to send water away from the house.


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## Tellebot (Jun 11, 2016)

I've thought about taking the lights down, but it's already closer to the upcoming holiday season than the last, so...at least I took down the inflatable Santa, right?

I don't really know much about flashing. Which would explain why I've lived here 3 years and never noticed there wasn't any. Can you tell me more? Is it readily available and easy enough I can install myself?


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## oldognewtrick (Jun 12, 2016)

This explains it better than I can.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCGOFF8Plys[/ame]


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## joecaption (Jun 12, 2016)

Why not reframe that opening so a new 36" door will fit?
Someone messed up big time when building that wall.
That door frame should have came out even with the subflooring on the outside, that way a real threshold would over hang it and keep the water out.
Then you would just add jamb extensions on the inside so the jambs are flush with the inside wall.


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## Tellebot (Jun 12, 2016)

You're probably right that more needs to be done than just putting a new door in place of the old one. A lot of things are a little wacky in our 125 year old home. I know this porch was enclosed by at least 1928 because we have a photo then. So it'll be a little hard to ask whoever built the wall to come back and do it right, and we don't have the time or money to do it ourselves right now. Just buying the storm door is a little more than we have money for but it must be done. 

I will now look into installing flashing. What about doing anything with those two floorboards that are showing signs of rot? Do nothing and cover them back up? Cut those sections out and replace with new wood? Something else I haven't considered?


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## Tellebot (Jun 12, 2016)

I liked the video you linked. It was very thorough and taught me something new about dissimilar metals. 

Is this the type of flashing I need? It seems pretty straightforward, I'm just not sure the best way to install it here. 

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1465756523.765372.jpg


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## Tellebot (Jun 12, 2016)

I also saw this. Not sure if this would be useful?View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1465756667.754122.jpg


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## Tellebot (Jun 12, 2016)

Crap. Decided to remove the rotted floorboards to replace with new wood. 

Good news-the rot in the floorboards appears to stop at the threshold and doesn't continue into the porch. And the boards on both sides of that section are also in good shape. 

Bad news-the rot under the floorboards is pretty extensive. Pulled out wet black "dirt" by the handful that I think used to be wood. We dug down maybe 4-5 inches to what appears to be a 4x4 running parallel to the outside wall that is also in really bad shape. 

So now what do I need to do???


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## oldognewtrick (Jun 12, 2016)

Tellebot said:


> So now what do I need to do???



Take a bunch of pics from different angles so we know what you're dealing with.


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## Tellebot (Jun 12, 2016)

From the outside showing the floorboards cut and all the wet rot removed: View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1465764096.202085.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1465764156.064704.jpg


Inside the crawl space. What I thought was a 4x4 from the outside is actually a 2x8 or 2x10 and a 2x a couple inches shorter, one in front of the other. The wider board (looks like it's on the bottom but is just wider and closest to the exterior wall) shows the worst signs of rot while the two farthest from the exterior feel sound and sound solid when struck:
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1465764232.545640.jpg


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## Tellebot (Jun 12, 2016)

Haha-the wood is so badly rotted my 2 year old helped dig it out with his toy tools. "It's not hard!" he says. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1465767032.627127.jpg


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## Tellebot (Jun 12, 2016)

It's going to be a real pain to try and remove that rotted board because of where it's located and because the runs the full width of the house. The rot seems to be concentrated between two support posts which are on either side of the door. I'm wondering if I could cut out the floorboards between the threshold of the front door and the edge to expose as much of the rotten wood as possible. I found these epoxy products which state they can be used on rotted wood: http://rotdoctor.com/products/product.html

I thought maybe I could use the CPES and the Layup and Laminating epoxy resin (or similar products from elsewhere) from above and below to stop further rot and restore strength and stability. Then replace the cut out floorboards with wood cut to size and treated, do some flashing, put in a new door and be done. Does that seem like a sound plan?


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## nealtw (Jun 13, 2016)

Tellebot said:


> It's going to be a real pain to try and remove that rotted board because of where it's located and because the runs the full width of the house. The rot seems to be concentrated between two support posts which are on either side of the door. I'm wondering if I could cut out the floorboards between the threshold of the front door and the edge to expose as much of the rotten wood as possible. I found these epoxy products which state they can be used on rotted wood: http://rotdoctor.com/products/product.html
> 
> I thought maybe I could use the CPES and the Layup and Laminating epoxy resin (or similar products from elsewhere) from above and below to stop further rot and restore strength and stability. Then replace the cut out floorboards with wood cut to size and treated, do some flashing, put in a new door and be done. Does that seem like a sound plan?



The rotted board you are digging at, is it visible in the photo below, if so which one?


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## Tellebot (Jun 13, 2016)

It is the one that looks to be in the middle. The other two boards only go between the support posts on either side of the door and don't run the full width of the porch.


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## nealtw (Jun 13, 2016)

Tellebot said:


> It is the one that looks to be in the middle. The other two boards only go between the support posts on either side of the door and don't run the full width of the porch.



So it was acting as a beam holding up the floor the door frame and the window frame. As bad as it sounds it does need to be changed out and no it is not impossible.


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## Tellebot (Jun 13, 2016)

Yikes I was hoping for a different answer! How would I go about replacing it? I think I'd need to add temporary supports/jacks because I'd have to remove all of the supports on top of the center support post to access this board in its entirety. Yeah? Is this still diy-able?


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## nealtw (Jun 13, 2016)

Tellebot said:


> Yikes I was hoping for a different answer! How would I go about replacing it? I think I'd need to add temporary supports/jacks because I'd have to remove all of the supports on top of the center support post to access this board in its entirety. Yeah? Is this still diy-able?



Anything is doable sometime easier and sometimes not so much.:hide:

Would it be safe to assume the the roof was there before the wall was built?
And the do the rafters land on that wall or are you looking at a gable over the door?


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## Tellebot (Jun 14, 2016)

I would assume the roof was there first but couldn't say for sure. The roof ends at that wall-no gable or anything else.


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## nealtw (Jun 14, 2016)

Tellebot said:


> I would assume the roof was there first but couldn't say for sure. The roof ends at that wall-no gable or anything else.


If the roof went up first there will be a beam above all. If you can't prove that then you cut a 2x12 to fit from side to side and screw that to all the studs from side to side inside to hold the wall up and straight, remove the white board and dig out the junk and replace it.
That's the short and quick of it, sounds easy if you say it fast.:rofl:


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## Tellebot (Jun 14, 2016)

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1465878397.205602.jpg


Yeah...super easy...

Easy. That's what we thought this job of replacing a storm door would be. Should've known better!


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## nealtw (Jun 14, 2016)

Tellebot said:


> View attachment 11865
> 
> 
> Yeah...super easy...
> ...



So that piece continues thru the rest of the porch?


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## Tellebot (Jun 14, 2016)

I don't know if it's just because it's late but I didn't 100% understand what you meant on how to replace the board. It must be late because it seems like figuring out how to do it should be the easy part and actually getting it done another story...


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## Tellebot (Jun 14, 2016)

The piece in question runs from corner to corner, left to right, along the exterior wall at a level immediately below the floor. There's no subfloor or anything here.


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## nealtw (Jun 14, 2016)

I would bet that at one time the stairs were back under the roof and that is why they have the extra wall there and not in the center of the porch. So that beam might join at that wall below the window.
Look at it like good catch, this could get real bad in another year or two.
The door frame will have to be pulled too so you can add a new aluminum threshold to it. and there is some stud repair there too.
Once you have that white board off you can get the correct height measurement and some good photos before you pull it out, You want to have everything ready for a quick change.
We only have to worry about supporting the roof over the door and that first window


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## Tellebot (Jun 14, 2016)

Do you mean the white board just below the door and behind the stairs? That was screwed in before the stairs were poured because we can see the screws behind the stairs so that'll be fun.


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## nealtw (Jun 14, 2016)

Do you have a sawzall, the board behind it will go too but you may want to support the wall first.


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## Tellebot (Jun 14, 2016)

The board behind it is actually the one that needs to be removed.


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## nealtw (Jun 14, 2016)

There is a 2x? between the white board and the rotten one, together they make a beam.


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## Precision Home Services (Jul 3, 2016)

It appears that you are working with a porch that has been closed in and the original porch floor is the subfloor sticking out under the door sill.  The rotted wood below the area will need to be cut out and replaced.  Do you have access to the area below the porch?  If not you will need to pull up the flooring to replace the band joist/beam below the door.  Those flashings are made to go under a door sill or under siding or trim around Windows.  Your door does not have a sill which normally would have come out past the side jamb.  You have a threshold strip.  Pull the threshold strip up and you can cut the porch floor back just short of the back of threshold and replace with a horizontal piece.  It should extend out past the one by trim at the landing.  The threshold will cover the seam at the back.  You will probably have to scab the band joist to support the cut floor.  This is all after you have repaired the band joist.


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