insulation around sliding patio door

I am trying to determine the best route for insultaion around my slider. I had an earlier post and the gentleman mention DAP Latex foam, is this the best route, or should I just pack the hell out of it with fiberglass insulation. With one is going to provide less air penetration. If it is DAP, how many cans should I need?

Also, he mentioned flashing the door I am installing a replacement slider how would I go about flashing the outside, and it will be seated on a concrete slab do I flash that and how?

I need help

Matt

 

Under a sliding door or even a window, the proper flashing is to use "pan flashing" (a shallow 3 sided box) that lets water drain to the outside. You can fabricate it yourself. The flashing on the side of the window should be under your primary water barrier.

If you don't flash properly, you can expect problems (leakage, mold). It has been estimated that 75% of the windows are installed improperly with flashing by far and away the most common(90%) fault.

Most people install windows and only worry about being plumb, square, flush and looking good. Even the most well-meaning people make errors they are not aware of. Follow the maufacturers instructions and if they do not have good instructions, you should not be buying the windows.

In my investigations with moisture and mold problems about 80% of the time, the culpret is the window or door. This is the reason there are certified window installers.

Dick

 

When insulating around door, beware of packing too tightly as this will push the frame out of alignment. DAP latex foam does not expand enough to cause a problem with alignment.
Great Stuff has two types. Do not use the Great Stuff which expands. It will push the frame out of alignment when it expands.

 

The problem with fiberglass is that is only slows air, it doesn't stop it. Most people would think that packing fiberglass into the space is better (packing the **** out of it) but the opposite is true. When fiberglass is packed too tightly, it compresses the air spaces which are actually what gives insulation any r-value at all. Fiberglass should not be compressed any more than it is when the batt is laying loose. If it's compressed more than that, it begins to lose its effectiveness and it will no longer hold it's specified r-value per inch. If one is using fiberglass, the best thing to do is to fill the cavity completely, but to try to pack it loosely so that the fiberglass is not compressed. This is easy to do in a 1/2-3/4" gap, but harder to achieve with a small gap. When there's a small gap, most people just try to cram as much insulation in as they can. Situations like that are where I would always recommend using a product like DAP latex foam.

 

Can you use pan flashing if the exterior of your house is brick? Wouldn't the flashing have to over lap the brick? I am interested in information about flashing a patio door for a brick house (just brick exterior).