# Forum Home Renovation Structural Renovation  Water coming under my garage door.

## Fr_303

Not sure under which heading i can post this question if it's in the wrong place let me know.
I have a Panel Lift door at the front and a roller door at the back and when ever it rains I get water coming in from under the seals. The Drive way slopes away from the door and so does the court yard so it's not the concrete it seems to be the driving rain that cause it to come underneath.  It a new house and I spoke to the builder about it but they turned around and said that the Garage is not covered under any warranty for water leaks because it is does not have to be water proofed. (By the way the builder is Metricon which will explains a lot).
A friend said to put a garden hose in the seal along the whole length of the door to make it more rigid but it did not help. 
It's a plastered garage so it is slowly destroying the plaster.Has anyone got any ideas on what I can do thanks.

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## Master Splinter

The sure-fire approach is to place a stripdrain just in front of the door.

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## Fr_303

My drive way leans away from the door and is a very steal lean as well

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## Master Splinter

If the existing slope is insufficient, the only way  to provide more drainage away from the door is to increase the slope. 
If heavy rain is dumping more than X litres per minute (where X is a quantity relating to the flow stall point - more water is being delivered than can flow away, leading to ponding against the door), then changing the characteristics of the drainage slope is about all you can do.  Remember that the area is coping not only with the 'plan view' rainfall amount, but possibly a few square meters extra from rain running down the door. 
A stripdrain really close to the door gives you the most effective drainage. 
The other approach is to place a more conforming seal (not less conforming, as inserting a hose would do) on the bottom of the door and make sure the door in its closed position is providing sufficient force to compress the seal to a reasonably watertight degree.  However, the width of a garage door and the possible unevenness of the slab can make it difficult to ensure sufficient compression at all points, so it can be problematic. 
After that, you are looking at grinding rebates into the slab or adding a thick metal strip as a dam.

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## woodbe

You could install a small speedhump just inside each door and seal it to the floor and sides. I'm on the lookout for something economical to do this for a different purpose (commercial speed bumps are $$$) 
woodbe

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## Bloss

> You could install a small speedhump just inside each door and seal it to the floor and sides. I'm on the lookout for something economical to do this for a different purpose (commercial speed bumps are $$$) 
> woodbe

  Even easier if the water ingress is not a flood - simply use a strip of aluminium angle - say 20mmx20mmx4mm (smaller or larger according to the water height where it is coming in) across the full opening width fixed to the floor so that it sits just inside and behind the bottom door seal. 
I have done this by a few screws into the concrete and silicone underneath and it has worked and lasted well enough using solely silicone or building contact adhesive and no metal fixings. This can be annoying if you are wheeling things across it with small diameter wheels in and out, but a car will not notice. 
A piece of steel angle also works - simply paint with cold gal or metal primer & top coat once cut to size and before fixing in place. Or gal angle if you are happy to pay a bit extra. 
Woodbe - steel angle works well for your purpose to - with the angle up and the two edges face down on the concrete. If the angle is too sharp it can be arrissed off with a quick run of a grinder and depending what is running across it it can simply be glued or can be screwed into concrete using loxins or other masonry fixings. The height is variable by the size of the angle flange depth. I have also use uneven angle to get a lower angle ramp on one side - so for example 100mm x 50mm x 6mm. For this purpose you can buy seconds or second hand too as there is no structural issue.

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## Oldsaltoz

Had the same problem, removed the old seal and replaced with insertion rubber strip, flush inside and 75 mm overlap outside, glued on with Sikaflex, 3 years now and now problems. 
Good luck.  :Smilie:

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## woodbe

> Had the same problem, removed the old seal and replaced with insertion rubber strip, flush inside and 75 mm overlap outside, glued on with Sikaflex, 3 years now and now problems. 
> Good luck.

  What does flush inside and 75mm overlap outside mean? Got photos? 
Is this that rubber strip with cloth fibres embedded in it? 
Woodbe.

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## Oldsaltoz

> What does flush inside and 75mm overlap outside mean? Got photos?  The inside edge of the rubber strip was flush with the inside edge of the bottom of the roller door, the rubber strip was cut so that it had another 75 mm past the bottom of the roller door on the outside.  
> Is this that rubber strip with cloth fibres embedded in it?  Yes. 
> Woodbe.

  Good Luck.  :Smilie:

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## Fr_303

> Good Luck.

  Where did you buy it from

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## Oldsaltoz

Clarke Rubber I think.

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## Fr_303

> Clarke Rubber I think.

  Just popped in to clarke rubber they could not help,

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## woodbe

> Just popped in to clarke rubber they could not help,

  Show em THIS (Second product down) 
woodbe.

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## Bloss

Puzzled   :Confused:  as I just re-read the OP - this is new house and I assume new seals which suggests something more going on than simply faulty seals. So there is a design issue that is allowing water to build up on the outside of the doors and those standard seals are not designed to stop actual flowing streams of water against them. Hence my suggestion - which means that you do not have to take the more radical step of cutting into concrete front and back and installing drains etc. But pics would help - much better than text description. 
Woodbe - did I miss  :Confused:  the point in my addition regarding your speedhump problem?

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## woodbe

> Woodbe - did I miss  the point in my addition regarding your speedhump problem?

  Yes.  :Smilie:  
You clearly thought I wanted a speed bump for a speedbump whereas I am thinking of using one to mask a door smile and reduce the amount of leaves blowing under it. This other solution of the insertion rubber may work too though, and be less hassle... 
woodbe.

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## Bloss

> Yes.  
> You clearly thought I wanted a speed bump for a speedbump whereas I am thinking of using one to mask a door smile and reduce the amount of leaves blowing under it. This other solution of the insertion rubber may work too though, and be less hassle... 
> woodbe.

  Ah so when you say 'speed bump' I should take that to mean weatherstrip . . .  :Wink:   :Biggrin:

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## Fr_303

> Puzzled   as I just re-read the OP - this is new house and I assume new seals which suggests something more going on than simply faulty seals. So there is a design issue that is allowing water to build up on the outside of the doors and those standard seals are not designed to stop actual flowing streams of water against them. Hence my suggestion - which means that you do not have to take the more radical step of cutting into concrete front and back and installing drains etc. But pics would help - much better than text description. 
> Woodbe - did I miss  the point in my addition regarding your speedhump problem?

  I posted some pics of the problem I am having. Water coming in gets a lot worse it wasn't really raining that heavy when I took the photo's

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## Fr_303

> Had the same problem, removed the old seal and replaced with insertion rubber strip, flush inside and 75 mm overlap outside, glued on with Sikaflex, 3 years now and now problems. 
> Good luck.

  Any chance of posting some pics of how you did this oldsaltoz would really appreciate it

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## Oldsaltoz

Your set up is about the same as mine, good slop just down from the door. 
The insertion rubber I installed prevents any water dripping off the bottom or the roller door. 
Because insertion rubber is very soft and floppy it lays flat to the ground and slopes away from the door feeding the water to point lower than the door, that's why I made it wider than the door on the outside, a 75 mm overhgang seems to work well for me.  
I just cut the rubber to size, ran a bead of Sikaflex 11FC, the FC stands for Fast Cure, clamped it with a strip of timber and made sure it was not clamped too tight, cleaned up and left it for 20 or so minutes; no problems since. 
Well almost no problems, after a storm the other night I now have to do the same to the other roller door. 
Hope this helps. :Smilie:  
Sorry no pictures, but how hard can it be to visualise the near flat bottom of the roller door with a strip of rubber flush to the inside edge on and a 75 mm overhang on the outside.

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## Bloss

:What he said:   with that good slope away from the front the rubber alternative looks the easiest and cheapest so I'd try that first.  :2thumbsup:

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## baddog

FR, 
I have the same problem and have had similar responses. It's not a water level issue but the rain being driven under the seal by wind - I get it!  :Biggrin:  And for those suggesting that there is a bigger problem, there isn't. It's very common for garage door seals to not seat firmly to the ground for the entire length of the door - particularly if it is a double width door. The issue seems to arise in the orientation of the house. We face west and cop a lot of westerly winds during storms, hence the rain being driven under the seal. 
I posted the same q? on whirlpool and I think one of the posters here replied with the same fix that he had done - the half circle aluminum fastened to the floor complete with silicone. 
There are products in the UK and US that address this exact problem, but the postage is exhorbitant to say the least - am awaiting to here back from them re Aussie distribution. Will post back when I get a response.

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## Fr_303

thanks baddog
I have seem the storm guard from the us like you said postage is a joke. Would appreciate any info that u find

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## Bloss

Another ways is to simply fix a strip of aluminium or gal flat iron bent at an angle across the front just above the seal angle facing down and out - even 50mm can deflect a lot of weather away. Depends on clearances when open though - I have done few and they are still clear at full open position.

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