Any carpenters here know how to fix a rotten door?

No water marks on the foam board that's attached to the concrete walls of the crawlspace.

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I pealed back the insulation that's between the joists. Furthest back into the "pocket" there is faced insulation loosely pressed in there. I assume this is the area that's under the wall?

It looks like there's a line of white mold followed by black mold.

Does this mean I'll be replacing the flooring above it too?

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I checked the opposite side of the house to see if it's an issue everywhere and it's as clean as can be over there. I've been wanting to replace the insulation that's tucked into those pockets with EPS foam board insulation cut to size. The idea being that any water that finds it's way back there can evaporate out through the board. Once I get all of this cleaned up is that still a good idea?

I do have a dehumidifier in the crawlspace and house both set to 35%.
 
toximus said:
No water marks on the foam board that's attached to the concrete walls of the crawlspace.

View attachment 302308

I pealed back the insulation that's between the joists. Furthest back into the "pocket" there is faced insulation loosely pressed in there. I assume this is the area that's under the wall?

It looks like there's a line of white mold followed by black mold.

Does this mean I'll be replacing the flooring above it too?

View attachment 302309

I checked the opposite side of the house to see if it's an issue everywhere and it's as clean as can be over there. I've been wanting to replace the insulation that's tucked into those pockets with EPS foam board insulation cut to size. The idea being that any water that finds it's way back there can evaporate out through the board. Once I get all of this cleaned up is that still a good idea?

I do have a dehumidifier in the crawlspace and house both set to 35%.
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You will want to get as much black out as possible - probably pretty soft. Keep that insulation peeled back
 
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Okay. I'll go down again after work with a garbage bag and pull that faced insulation out.

To remove that moldy OSB does that mean removing the interior wood flooring above it?
 
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From what I see, I expect the entire threshold/sill needs to be cut out and replaced.
As mentioned above, that is a water stain.
The real problem will happen where you cannot see, and where it cannot dry out if it gets wet.
Good luck.
 
toximus said:
Okay. I'll go down again after work with a garbage bag and pull that faced insulation out.

To remove that moldy OSB does that mean removing the interior wood flooring above it?
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Likely, but it will go back in- hopefully the wood is parallel to the door so you can remove it far easier. If it is perpendicular it may be trickier.
 
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Dont forget to pick up shims and long enough screws. Screw through the door frame and shim after you get it set right. Build a simple door overhang in the spring or buy a prefab.

I notice the bottom of your door is close to level with the deck. I'd move the door up and make a threshold. You'll learn to step over it. See top and bottom of photos for examples.

Lovely-Door-Overhang-Designs-38.jpg


Lovely-Door-Overhang-Designs-12.jpg
 
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toximus said:
Thankfully it is parallel.
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Do you have more of the flooring? Chances are good you'll have to destroy the first piece you tackle. Wood flooring is tongue and groove, so you almost always need to cut the first piece in half and take it out in pieces, to make room for the others to come out.

But... Listen to @AndyG. Guy knows his stuff.
 
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I removed the insulation from between all of the joists in that area. Roughly 48" is moldy.

There was some moisture crystals or snow coming through where the OSB decking (correct word?) is caving in:

20220113_160713.jpg



I checked under the other door and it's clean (covered porch probably helps). The worst I found was a few rusty nails that seem to be original, and few clean uncoated screws that I think are newer. I also found a note that "unfaced R19" was installed in 2009.

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This is probably the last update for another 6 months until it warms up enough to work on.
 
If you aren't doing the repair until spring, spray the mold with bleach water in a weed sprayer a couple times; letting it dry in between. Or scrub what you can reach. The more you kill, the less it spreads. If the wood isnt bad, kill the mold and paint it with primer.
 
Mike_H said:
Do you have more of the flooring? Chances are good you'll have to destroy the first piece you tackle. Wood flooring is tongue and groove, so you almost always need to cut the first piece in half and take it out in pieces, to make room for the others to come out.

But... Listen to @AndyG. Guy knows his stuff.
Click to expand...

I don't have any extra flooring or siding. The flooring is an imperfect rustic style that's tongue and groove with gaps between the boards. A little damage to it would go unnoticed. My thoughts are that I can use a router table to make a board or two. Or there's a wood products store nearby that I know can order in custom pieces (probably at insane prices).
 
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InOmaha said:
If you aren't doing the repair until spring, spray the mold with bleach water in a weed sprayer a couple times; letting it dry in between. Or scrub what you can reach. The more you kill, the less it spreads. If the wood isnt bad, kill the mold and paint it with primer.
Click to expand...

Good idea. I'll wait to do this until we have warmer weather. Right now I think it'd just freeze in there.
 
toximus said:
This is the video that shows the EPS foam board:

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I have my rim joists opened up right now for the EXACT same reason. My wife was painting the basement floor and noticed some mold under a freestanding shelf that we have. Turns out, the heater exhaust and intake were not insulated and are condensing in the warm air of the basement. Well, while investigating that, I noticed EVERY penetration that has been made over the years was not sealed...Heater intake and exhaust, Natural gas, AC system, Hose bibs...

Home ownership is great!
 
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Mike_H said:
I have my rim joists opened up right now for the EXACT same reason. My wife was painting the basement floor and noticed some mold under a freestanding shelf that we have. Turns out, the heater exhaust and intake were not insulated and are condensing in the warm air of the basement. Well, while investigating that, I noticed EVERY penetration that has been made over the years was not sealed...Heater intake and exhaust, Natural gas, AC system, Hose bibs...

Home ownership is great!
Click to expand...
My wife and I dreamed when we were young of owning a home- Once we did it didn’t take me long to realize it was my roof and my air conditioner and so on -

I remember when I got one of my first trailers in my construction business I was so proud in about 10 minutes later we got a flat tire- And I was like oh boy I have four more tires to deal with-

Life can really be pretty amazing- You can slave away for money and think that once you have some that’s going to make you happy and then once you get some you can find yourself very preoccupied about losing it somehow-

They say the poor have the hope to be rich and rich don’t even have that.

I’m reading every post and everything is making sense.
This thread is a really good example of how we have a bunch of common sense guys that are not afraid to get their hands dirty and are willing to help the other guy out. I’m proud to be part of that.
 
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toximus said:
I don't have any extra flooring or siding. The flooring is an imperfect rustic style that's tongue and groove with gaps between the boards. A little damage to it would go unnoticed. My thoughts are that I can use a router table to make a board or two. Or there's a wood products store nearby that I know can order in custom pieces (probably at insane prices).
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Since you're going all the way to the door, you might be able to get the wall edge up too. Just wanted to mention it as a possible "gotcha."

Goodness knows I've run into a few of those in the 18 years or so I've been in my house.

I replaced my back slider one year. Similar to your back door, its opens onto the deck. When I got the door out, we found a rotten subfloor. That section of the house (about 8 feet long) is cantilevered out over the foundation about 2 feet. No idea why that is...it has no structural purpose...or even an aesthetic purpose. I think it may have been an oops on the builders part. Anyway, it was not well protected from water. That was a fun scramble...A half day project turned into removing a bunch of floor tile, cutting out sub floor, reframing a couple joists, etc. Took me all weekend and the better part of the next monday to get the house closed up again.
 
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Mike_H said:
Since you're going all the way to the door, you might be able to get the wall edge up too. Just wanted to mention it as a possible "gotcha."

Goodness knows I've run into a few of those in the 18 years or so I've been in my house.

I replaced my back slider one year. Similar to your back door, its opens onto the deck. When I got the door out, we found a rotten subfloor. That section of the house (about 8 feet long) is cantilevered out over the foundation about 2 feet. No idea why that is...it has no structural purpose...or even an aesthetic purpose. I think it may have been an oops on the builders part. Anyway, it was not well protected from water. That was a fun scramble...A half day project turned into removing a bunch of floor tile, cutting out sub floor, reframing a couple joists, etc. Took me all weekend and the better part of the next monday to get the house closed up again.
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It has the same feeling as working on the same jeep you drive to work- If you take it apart on Tuesday night boy you are committed. You really have to sit down on one of these once you start it....That is the construction term for not going anywhere but staying after it til it gets done.

My primary focus this week has been a bathroom in a home that is not terribly old- And it has been one of the more difficult jobs to correct everything and get it set back up for the rebuild that I can remember doing.

Don’t let premeditation get to you...At the same time thinking ahead is beneficial and you’re certainly doing that.

Getting the new door sized correctly is going to be very important when this thing goes down. If the sales representative offers to come out and measure the door let them.

Kill it.
 
InOmaha said:
Dont forget to pick up shims and long enough screws. Screw through the door frame and shim after you get it set right. Build a simple door overhang in the spring or buy a prefab.

I notice the bottom of your door is close to level with the deck. I'd move the door up and make a threshold. You'll learn to step over it. See top and bottom of photos for examples.

View attachment 302341

View attachment 302342
Click to expand...
This may seem like I’m getting in the weeds but when you shim the door plumb You never want to put shims directly behind the top hinge- If the door ever sags you do not have the ability to pull the Jamb closer to the framing later - There are four holes on most exterior hinges and two of the holes are closer to the center of the door jamb- Those are the holes that long screws are beneficial so that the door hinges connected both to the jamb and framing.

Again I know this is getting ahead a little bit.

You have to set your door in such a way that you’re conscious of how you’re going to trim it in relation to the logs because you probably don’t want to modify them and you want an even reveal on either side- Usually I will remove the exterior casing that will come on the door or order it without and then install the door and get it working correctly and then deal with the trim.

Any type of covering like he suggest is a great idea...Exposed exterior doors are notorious for this type of problem- They are huge penetrations that open and close.
 
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