Walkout Basement Entrance Re-Do

[Ken45101]

Is the concrete below the door sloped away from the house, or is it level? IOW, does water running down the door drain away, or sit there? If it is not sloped away, the first thing I would do is grind it down at an angle so that they water wants to move away.

 

[jrdepew]

Is the concrete below the door sloped away from the house, or is it level? IOW, does water running down the door drain away, or sit there? If it is not sloped away, the first thing I would do is grind it down at an angle so that they water wants to move away.

The water definitely sits. I can see where they repaired the concrete at the door entrance...they must have kept it level instead of sloping it away from the floor at this point.

What is the best way to grind the concrete down to slope slightly away from the door?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Coyote machine]

More and clearer pics are needed to properly access what you need to do. Basic concept is to run all water away from the area, as much as possible. Regrade the banks that allow water to flow toward the doors and install drainage at the door entry to take any remaining water away. What /pine said about sealers and using a Grace Ice/Water Shield product with pressure treated framing lumber. Azek isn't suited to a shoe plate; you'd be better off using proper flashing to keep rainwater/moisture from penetrating the envelope.
Until you resolve your drainage issues you will be throwing money at materials and problems that will continue to plague you. You have lots of time to plan out this project and do it right once with the right materials. Personally I would use a good quality fiberglass door instead of metal, most likely.
Give us some short distance pics of the area so we can help access the drainage issues.
BTW, you might be able to install a grate/trough in front of the doors to collect and carry away water.

 

[Ken45101]

The water definitely sits. I can see where they repaired the concrete at the door entrance...they must have kept it level instead of sloping it away from the floor at this point.

What is the best way to grind the concrete down to slope slightly away from the door?



Thanks,
Joe

Before I would do any work, I would definitely grind it down to a point underneath the new frame. There may be other alternatives, but an angle grinder with a concrete disk would work. For the amount you have to do, it may be worth renting a larger grinder.

 

[jrdepew]

Here are some better pictures. I do not think that any of the water is coming from accumulation in the gravel in front of the door. This seems to drain extremely quick and I never see any sort of pooling here. Also, the concrete level is slightly above the level of the gravel as hopefully these pictures show. I do think that the banks on the sides of the door are directing runoff directly to the concrete pad that the door sits on, which is not sloped back towards the gravel, causing water to sit at the bottom plate and wick under.

 

[dave1949]

Here are some better pictures. I do not think that any of the water is coming from accumulation in the gravel in front of the door. This seems to drain extremely quick and I never see any sort of pooling here. Also, the concrete level is slightly above the level of the gravel as hopefully these pictures show. I do think that the banks on the sides of the door are directing runoff directly to the concrete pad that the door sits on, which is not sloped back towards the gravel, causing water to sit at the bottom plate and wick under.

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That looks likely to me from these pics.

You could give yourself a little more room by laying block on each side of the door rough opening if you re-do that wall section. But, it seems like keeping the surface water from ever getting to that area is a good idea.

 

[BuilderML]

Ok here is what i would do in your place. Sorry about the picture quality but i think you'll get my point. Can't figure out how to make the picture bigger :confused3: Can you guys see it?

 

[Coyote machine]

The grade of the grass banks on either side of the doors needs to change, and the grade needs to be pulled back from along the walls too. There should be a stone lined ditch about 1.5' or more running alongside the walls sloped away from the wall allowing water to get away from the wall and away from heading to the doors area. The siding should not come to grade as it does now. The lowest portion of the siding could be trimmed with a piece of Kleer or other solid PVC material, impervious to water. T111 is not impervious to water or mold or outdoor elements. Same with the door trim, (called brickmoulding)- use PVC or nothing.
I would excavate out the grade from the side walls, seal it, after thoroughly cleaning the concrete with a Muriatic acid solution, then coat it with a bituthane sealer and use landscape fabric to line what will be your perimeter ditch, then stone to keep the water from contacting the house walls.
Water must be directed away from the entire area; both walls and doors must be isolated from water runoff and constant moisture.
Slope the remaining grade to have enough pitch to carry any remaining water away from the target area.
It seems you have a overhang of some sort above the doors? I can't tell from the pics too well, but if it's there it too must allow the water to be taken away from the doors with gutters, flashing, whatever it takes to keep the area underneath dry.

 

[forgeblast]

That is what our walk out looked like. I pushed the grass, dirt back to the corners of the house and graded away from the door. I then put in a paver patio angled away from the doors (i made infront of the doors the high point and angled away from it. I also made sure to move the gutters away from the door. I have not had a problem since then. I was also thinking about, once we re-do the deck that is above our door, to put in that system that acts like a roof/gutter system on the bottom of the deck to keep that area dry. We use it to store our deck furniture in the winter.

 

[sleepybozo]

Excellent discussion and advice so far in this thread. However, there is another possibility for water access that hasn't yet been mentioned. It's hard to see details in the one picture that shows it, but it appears that the roof covering the space between the house and garage was improperly attached to the house. It looks as though the roof structure was simply attached *through* the existing siding, so the top edge of the flashing at that joint is on the *outside* of the siding. There are gaps at every joint in the siding, and it's impossible to see how (or even if) those gaps were sealed. If water were able to get through between the siding and the flashing, run down the wall to the ceiling, which is right about the top of the T-111, it could enter the *top* of the wall, run down and collect at the bottom where the mold is forming. You should make sure the joint between the top edge of the flashing and the siding is well sealed (the top edge of the flashing should really be *under* the siding, but to fix that would mean taking the entire roof over the walkway down and rebuilding it properly). I would also take down at least a small strip of the ceiling so water could escape by running down the outside of the wall instead of finding an easier route *inside* the wall. Hopefully the main structure of the house has not been compromised and there's no rot there. Probably should check just to make sure. Personally, I would remove all of the ceiling material. It conceals a large void, inhibiting ventilation, but also creating an unseen path for fire between the garage and the house. Even if it was noticed, it takes a few minutes to tear down enough of the ceiling to get water throughout the the entire void, and that could be a couple of minutes too many. If you want to keep it, I would advise cutting a scuttle hole near the center, fairly easy for humans to open (but not for raccoons, etc.), easy to get a ladder through, and big enough for a large firefighter in full gear including breathing apparatus to turn around in. It comes in handy if you ever want to run wires, etc., through there, too.

Sorry to run on so long, hope it's been some help. (Disclaimer: I have never been employed in the construction trades. In fact, with 20+ years in the fire service, I've done a lot more un-construction (or would it be de-construction, or maybe just destruction?) than construction.)