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HELP!!! West facing entry door

monticellomom's picture

HELP!!! West facing entry door (post #201056)

monticellomom on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 16:24
in

We built our home 11 years ago and have had nothing but problems with our entry door.  It faces west and open midwestern field winds.  We have had to replace the door twice (or was it three times?) so far.  We also have had storm doors replaced or wind damage. 

 We have been told that a porch would help but our big problems happen with the straight line winds driving horizontal rain and it seems that the porch wouldn't help very much.  We have a window above and not really enough space to make an appropriate roof structure.  Ideally we would love to have the door seal and keep the water out.  As it is we are going to need to replace some wood from water damage.  As I said, the door has been replaced twice with Menards doors and the last one was an expensive Pella door.  But the wind will blow in through the sidelight frames also.  I know that the door doesn't seal completely because the wind whistles when the 50+ winds are blowing... but then perhaps there isn't a door that can handle these winds.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

-A +A

What kind of doors are you (post #201056, reply #1 of 4)

by DanH in reply to monticellomom [original] on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 16:54

What kind of doors are you using?  A decent quality metal door with magnetic gaskets should be able to stand up to anything short of a hurricane.


We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy -- sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. --Thomas Edison

Describe the door and maybe post a picture of it's setting. (post #201056, reply #2 of 4)

by calvin in reply to monticellomom [original] on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 19:01

And what color is this door?

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Rethink porch. (post #201056, reply #3 of 4)

by sgbotsford in reply to monticellomom [original] on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 11:22

You really want a closed in  porch with a separate door facing north or south.  This may mean making some form of shallower roof from the window above to cover it.  It may mean having the porch at ground level, with the steps inside the porch.

 

Most Canadian rural houses have a 'mud room' entrance.  It's only heated by what leaks from the house.  Often the freezer is in the mud room.  Lots of hooks for coats, and shelves for muddy footwear.  (It is considered rude here to wear your shoes inside someone else's house.)

 

Ok.  That answer not acceptable.  Go look at your neighbors houses.

 

Still no joy?

Re forest the front yard, planting willows, hybrid poplars and spruce.

A deep porch would be the (post #201056, reply #4 of 4)

by florida in reply to monticellomom [original] on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 13:07

A deep porch would be the best solution but if that's not possible I'd go with a fiberglass outswing door in a PVC frame. The wind will blow your door shut and a good weatherseal will keep the wind and rain out. Also, put the side light on the lockset side of the door, not the hinge side. Make sure you've got good flashing all around and use low expansion spray foam to fill in between the door frame and the rough opening. You'll have to go to a local door company to get this just like you want but you shouldn't have any trouble.