Cold air pouring in between door casing and floor, how do I fix?

Submitted by madoc007 t3_zqc6oj in DIY

This is an exterior door on that goes out to a deck, above a walk out basement. In winter, cold air is flowing out of this space - where the floor meets the door casing/framing. The door sill seems to be fine.

Underneath the deck, under the door sill, is filled with closed cell spray foam insulation.

Most of what I can find in research is not specific to my situation.

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1feralengineer t1_j0xdgre wrote

Pictures?

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madoc007 OP t1_j0xef6l wrote

Here you go, sorry I don’t have any of the exterior, I can get some tomorrow when it’s bright out

Pictures

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1feralengineer t1_j0xgbec wrote

Based on what I can see, it looks like the door weatherstrip is good, but not sure what is going on with the casing and the wood threshold. The discoloration (especially around the fasteners) indicates moisture.

The fact that the door is mostly window, what you feel may just be heat loss and not actually air exchange.

Try taping a thin piece of tissue paper to the end of a stick. Then hold the tissue paper in various places to see if it flaps around (showing actual air movement).

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madoc007 OP t1_j0xhei5 wrote

Yes I just replaced the weatherstrip under the door and the seal around the door is good. We just bought this house about a year ago and am finding small stuff like this the longer we live in the house. The old weatherstrip was pretty beat up and this is the main door to the backyard for people and dogs. The house didn’t have gutters either so all the water dripping off the roof fell onto the deck and splashed, I imagine under the old weatherstrip. We put gutters on, but I can tell when I replaced the weather strip that there was moisture, the underside of the door had wood in the middle and was weathered.

Thank you, I’ll try the paper trick tomorrow and report back.

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ToolMeister t1_j0xn4cw wrote

Might be badly/not at all insulated between the jamb and rough opening. If you can, pull one side of the casing and see if you have insulation. If not, spray foam it with low expansion foam.

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madoc007 OP t1_j0yzchc wrote

Thank you, I will pull it and take a look

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davethompson413 t1_j1148v5 wrote

Pull the interior trim. Add foam. Replace trim.

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