My father is having a pre-hung exterior door installed tomorrow. I'd try it, but I'm busy doing energy retrofits

The door is being installed in our basement and the frame surrounding the door is wood for the top half, concrete foundation for the bottom half. Here is a picture of the current door.



The concrete where the sill will rest needs to be raised about 1.5" to match the height of the concrete on the outside of the house. The installer was planning on pouring concrete to match the height.

The pre-hung exterior comes with a frame that includes a treated wood piece at the bottom. Can that treated wood be placed - with caulking - against the concrete?

Or is wood-on-wood better? Should another piece of treated wood be used to raise the height of the concrete instead of pouring more concrete?

Thanks!

 

No matter which way you go, you will have wood on concrete. I would form up the sill and repour to make sure water moves to the outside, then mount the door on the newly poured concrete after it cures out. Use several beads of silicone along the concrete where the door sill will rest to reduce chances of infiltration of water.

 

Of course. I don't know why I didn't realize it before. If wood is going to be against concrete, it might as well be the door frame.

Thanks