Today I Have Been Mainly Making Sandbags

[Mosaic]

out of playpit sand and strips from an old pillow case. The hallway is comprehensively soaked. They look like draught excluders but are very heavy and squishy.
The insurance company said 'it's wear and tear, not covered' without even looking.
The double glazing firm said they'll send a man out on Wednesday and they've got some good offers on doors. They also said, without irony, that they're inundated at the moment. I said I was too but that went whizzing over head.
At present I think my error is not running polythene and sandbags along the outside, so off I go to get very wet.

[scorpiojo]

Your hallway gets flooded and its 'wear and tear'?

[scorpiojo]

* it's

[gness]

Oh heck, Mosaic.....strange type of "wear and tear"......??

Puts my water in the dining room in the shade if you're having to make sandbags.......til Wednesday...... :-(

[Togo]

Mosaic if it is a pvc door and frame check that the drain vents under the sill are not blocked. Water will run down a door go behind the outer seal and should run out below the sill through said vents. If they are blocked the water will back up in the bottom and come out via the inside due to wind pressure.

[Mosaic]

Thanks Togo I had a footle about following your earlier advice. However while laying old towels down I noticed the water welling up from underneath the actual frame - the threshold, if you like. This is part of the upvc strip that runs all round the door aperture and is about 5cm deep. In addition it's dripping from the (firmly closed) letterbox. And also doing like what you described, ie I can feel it gushing in from between the frame and the door itself.
And...whilst footling around I noticed I was able to slide my fingernail between the doorstep and a strip of some kind of sealant that adheres to the outside of the frame.
If I was any kind of an expert, I'd describe this as a banjaxed door. I think a door should last more than 13 years. The last one stood there for 60 years.

[Togo]

I think your door and frame should be ok Mosaic. Sound as if the trim and surrounding seal needs re-doing. All upvc systems incorporate a self draining system which can get blocked and cause the problems you describe, particularly in high winds. I would have the rubber seals replaced at the same time. (the ones around the frame that the door closes onto and the ones around any glass or field panel)

[Mosaic]

Is this a job I can do Togo? Is there a handy link to an I-spy list of seal profiles?

[Togo]

I think you would need the name of the profile maker Mosaic. It is not difficult but some systems require the glass to be removed by knocking the beads off. The frame seal is a piece off ....! I will have a look when I get a mo for universal rubber seal, but the name of the maker makes it easy. ie rehau or the like.

[Togo]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=upvc+door+gasket+seal

This looks as if it will give you a clue Mosaic. You can buy upvc trim but you need to be able to use a sealant gun to do around the frame itself, and you need dry weather!

[Mosaic]

Sealant gun is un morceau d'urine, but the dry weather......that means next July round these parts.

[jomifl]

I guess if it gets flooded on a regular basis it would be wear and tear.

[Mosaic]

If by a regular basis, you mean since a week last Monday, then yes.
It hasn't flooded since 2003 when it was installed.

[Togo]

// un morceau d'urine//

LOL Just getting away with it. Cool Hand Luke.