Vinyl Door installation in basement

Hello, I will be replacing an old aluminum sliding door with a vinyl one in my walk-out basement. The door obviously rests on a slab of concrete. Is there any special way to seal the bottom of the door so that no water will be getting in? Is there any special installation procedures since the door rests on the slab of concrete? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

Pan flashings are especially recommended for ground level installations. Hopefully the floor level is above grade, and you have a dropoff of at least 1" where the cement floor ends and the pad, sidewalk, patio, etc. begins.

If you don't use a pan flashing, all you can do is sit the door on a 3/8" bead of high quality polyurethane caulking and make sure no water gets into the rough opening by using flashing tape and incorporating it into your weather resistive barrier- your building paper. Caulking the interior of the door will not help if water is coming into the rough opening beyond the ends of the door. That's what pan flashings help prevent, since they are custom sized to fit the entire rough opening- not just the door.

 

The floor is way below ground level (if that is what is meant by grade). Also, the floor and the patio are at the same level as far as I can tell without the door removed yet. Where can I get a pan flashing, would the big box store that I ordered the door through have them? Thank you for your help.

Tom

 

it's possible that they could order one for you, but I doubt they keep them in stock. You can also order them online. It's critical that you know the depth of the door (the distance from the nailing fin to the interior edge of the door which on vinyl doors is usually 3 1/4") as well as the rough opening size (usually 1" wider than the patio door, and existing rough openings usually need to be sized down for vinyl doors by roughly 1 1/4" on each side, since many patio door rough openings used to be 73 1/2", and need to be 72" for most vinyl patio doors.)

Google for: Jambsill

It would probably be the easiest one for you to work with.

It would also be a good idea to lower the surrounding grade (ground level) in the event that you frequently have standing or pooling water in front of that door during rain storms. Otherwise, walkout basement patios can quickly become small lakes during downpours.

 

Thank you very much for the info, while jambsill is the easiest, does it work well? I would rather get something more difficult to work with if it is better. Thank you again.

Tom

 

Then benefit of Jambsill is that it's in 3 pieces, making it easier to assemble. I make my own one piece pan flashings, but I figured it would be easier for a DIYer to buy one. They work the same way by providing a physical dam for water- the upturned lip on the interior side of the door that helps prevent water from running into the home through the rough opening.

 

I see, when you make your own, what material do you use? Also, I looked at the jamsill online and it has the upturned lip on the inside and a downturned lip on the outside (unless I looked at it incorrectly). This downturned outside lip would have nowhere to go on my installation, so should I chop it off? Thank you again for your help.

Tom

 

That's a good question. Do you know for a fact that the slab doesn't end at the front edge of the patio door? (i.e. the door has been removed, or you can see under it?) Because that really causes a leak potential. If so, I can't really give you advice, because having a pad outside that is even with the floor inside is just plain wrong.

It would be a good question for the good people at jambsill.

When I make my own, I usually use painted aluminum trim coil. Ideally, copper is one of the best metals to use. Many use galvanized sheet metal.

 

I spoke with a gentleman at the store who claims that he used to do this kind of work and he told me to use the black rubber seal that goes around windows and door and to put it with the adhesive side down and to put the door on top of it. How do you feel about that idea?

 

I am picking up the door today, should I not use the black rubber seal as suggested by the guy at the store? Thank you.

 

The rubber membrane you are referring to is flashing tape, sticky on one side. If you put that under the door and just seal it to the cement, it would do absolutely nothing to prevent leaks. It may be sealed to the cement, but what seals it to the door? And what acts as an interior lip, such as a pan flashing has? If you were going that route, what you would need to do is:

Leave 1 1/2" of paper backing on the interior edge of the flashing tape. Cut the piece about 6" longer than the rough opening is wide. Cut a small rectangle out of the two inside corners of the flashing tape that has the paper backing on it. The two rectangles you cut out will be roughly 1 1/2 x 3" and the remaining part of the 1 1/2" will then be exactly as wide as the rough opening is. Figure out where the interior edge of the patio door will sit, and draw a line on the cement. This line represents where the sticky part of the flashing should go... while the part with the paper backing on it will be inside that line- toward the interior of the home. Set the flashing on the cement, centering it so that about 3" will fold up onto the studs or block on each end. Run a bead of sealant on top of the membrane where the door will sit. When you set the door in place, the 1 1/2" of flashing that still has the paper backing on it will be left sticking out toward the interior of the room. Fold that 1 1/2" in half (toward the door) and crease it so that it is only 3/4" wide. Then remove the paper backing and fold that 3/4" flap up onto the door so that it sticks to the interior of the door. Sealant would need to be applied to the corners of this membrane where the flap on the sides of the rough opening meets the flap you have taped to the door. A threshold of some type would need to be anchored to the floor in front of the door in order to hide this 3/4" membrane, which will act as a pan flashing of sorts.

If you don't use some type of pan flashing, you would be better off to just run a very large bead of sealant, and set the door threshold into it when you set the door... or set the door in without sealant, and run a large bead across the interior, and plug the ends of the rough opening with sealant too. This will not prevent water from leaking under the sides of the rough opening, however. Again, that's why you want a sill pan.

The whole point of all the advice given so far was to show that a sill pan, with an upturned edge on the interior, is the only way you will be able to prevent future leaks (in the event that you ever have any standing water outside of the patio door, due to there not being a dropoff at the edge of the slab.)

Regardless of how the door is caulked down, when and if you get high water on the slab outside the door, water will enter from the sides of the rough opening and enter the house. That is what a sill pan prevents.

I have never used a flashing membrane in the manner I just described, but if I did, that's pretty much how it would be done.

I don't have any new advice to give other than what has already been said. Have a good day.