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I done stoopid - now to fix

Rennie Heuer

Rennie Heuer

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Constantine, MI
When we moved here 8 years ago I had plans of erecting a shop building - plans that were quickly an rather unceremoniously dashed by the local zoning official. Long story, suffice it to say I really dislike our realtor. Anyway, the existing garage became the shop leaving me with a lot of yard equipment, shovels and rakes and implements of destruction to store. So, I built a shed.
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I made two critical errors. One of which I could have gotten away with if it were not for the second, which I knew about, but presumed I would fix before it became an issue - I did not.

The first mistake was using OSB for the flooring. Bad choice, should have been treated plywood. Even so, I could have managed were it not for the second, and more grievous error - a P-poor job on the thresholds. The pictures tell the story - water is not being shed properly and is running back into the shed and rotting the floor at the corners of the doors. I'll be tearing up 2 4x8 sections of floor and replacing them with the aforementioned treated plywood. I'll also need to replace the trim on the sides of the overhead door. My dilemma is this - how to treat the thresholds, especially the one for the overhead door.

I believe I can find a better threshold with better design to encourage run off for the entry door. Some self adhering rubber membrane should also help. The overhead door is a whole 'nuther story. As best I can tell there are no thresholds that will reach out over the exposed floor as this type of door was meant to close against a concrete pad. I've toyed with the idea of fabricating one from PVC, but unsure if it will work.

So, I know many of you have construction experience well beyond my own. Any thoughts?

Overhead door

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Entry Door
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Hard to really tell the geometry of the threshold but my first thought would be to ditch the metal threshold and replace it with PT lumber or better yet composite decking board. Install it with a 6 to 8 degree slant to the outside. You may have to tolerate a lip to bump / drive over on the inside but that sounds like a fair trade . Hope that thought helps chase down a good fix.
calabrese55
 
I’d probably mill up a threshold out of treated lumber in the shape of what it would sit with concrete, where the back comes up behind the door and slopes away out the front, then cover in a self healing membrane up the over the profile and up the jamb sides. Then perhaps visit a sheet metal shop to have some heavier aluminum tread plate bent to match the profile to protect the membrane.
 
I was so lucky to have the help of my buddy who retired from the same place I did about a year earlier; principle Infrastructure engineer for 1200 acres of buildings and ancillary areas. He was bored and wanted to help me with the shop build. Any time I tried to apply the "good enough" rule he beat me about the head and shoulders and made me do the right thing. Construction is outside my skill pallet and I am always humbled by watching a good general contractor on the job; what a skill set to have!

Silly things like the material you choose for a given purpose, the slope of a 30 foot long floor, the flashing at a corner of a specific elevation on an outside wall . . . All this escapes me but I have seen the benefit of biting the bullet and doing it right.

I know this seems painful but . . . fall back. Get good advice from someone who lives this life. Follow their advice despite the pain in the wallet. Live happily ever after. I hope you find a fix for your current ills. I have had to do a few retrofits on the current house. Once you have solid advice from someone who knows what they are doing the road is pretty smooth except for the bumps and grinds when I am paying the bill :D
 
For the man door
I made a threshhold out of red oak. Red oak is not a good material for weather related stuff. I encased it in West Systems epoxy resin and used construction adhesive to attach it to the floor. It's been quite a few years and it still looks GREAT.

For the garage door
Dig out a trench and fill it with concrete. Dry pour works on some stuff but I don't recommend it for that. Just make sure it is wide enough to extend inside and outside 6-12 inches and maybe 6 inches deep. Maybe some 3/8 stone under.
 
Rennie,
Many years ago I made the mistake of having a slab pour outside the back of my shop and the contractor didn't pay attention to the grade and as a result when it rained the water didn't run off but went under the overhead door flooding my shop. I bought a new rubber threshold from amazon similar to this and it solved the problem It worked fine for at least 16 years.
 
Since you are dealing with a wood floor I think you will continue to have trouble unless you can drain the water away from the door seals. If you are replacing the OSB at the doors with PT plywood I'd take advantage of the opportunity to cut away an inch of the perimeter rim board/floor joist at an appropriate angle, and add necessary PT blocking to get the 6-8 degree slant Mike talked about. Then add the membrane and aluminum tread plate Darren suggested. I like Don's rubber threshhold idea but not sure how long it would work on a wood floor.
 
Leo Voisine said:
For the garage door
Dig out a trench and fill it with concrete. Dry pour works on some stuff but I don't recommend it for that. Just make sure it is wide enough to extend inside and outside 6-12 inches and maybe 6 inches deep. Maybe some 3/8 stone under.
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This ^^^ is what I wanted to suggest but I didn't know how to describe it. The only things I'd add to this are :

-create the form from PVC boards and leave it there when the pour is done.
- as it sets up be sure to trowel a slope to the outside
 
Thanks all for some great ideas. I'm likely to take a bit of each and incorporate them into a single solution.

Ted - wow, would never have thought to cut away part of the rim to allow for a ramped threshold. I'm thinking maybe I could use a piece of 1x8 PVC to craft a new threshold and use the suggested vinyl seal. If I use PVC for the trim boards also, and caulk the crap out of it I can get a pretty water tight door.
 
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