Sliding Door Leaking

Andy Shogren's sliding door out to his deck is leaking water and rotting his subfloor in Bakersfield, CA. Let him tell you what's going on.

"I've subscribed for a long time  to your FREE newsletter and have found some helpful hints over the years.

I have a two-story house and the master bedroom has a sliding door out to a deck. We recently got some rain (much needed) and I discovered that the track on my sliding door was full of water.

Upon further investigation, I found a wet spot of carpet next to the corner of my door and a water damaged baseboard.  I peeled the carpet and base board back to discover a rotting subfloor.  I thought I could just cut the section out and replace it but I found it goes under the door jamb.  Is there a way to replace the subfloor without removing the door?

Here's the rotting mess under and next to Andy's sliding door. Photo credit: Andy Shogren

As for the leak, I believe it is coming through a crack between the deck and the house, but I can't confirm this without removing some more stuff.  I'd rather not take the door out unless I need to as I have stucco.  If you can offer any suggestions, I would be grateful.  Thanks in advance."

Andy, you've got a mess for sure.

There's no way I know of to magically get the subfloor out from under the door without taking the door out. The stucco install does make it more challenging, but I'm afraid you need to bite the bullet and do this the right way.

The builder should have installed the fantastic rubberized asphalt-based flashing material on the wood subfloor and on top of that a plastic sill pan that directs water back outdoors.

I show you step-by-step in my Exterior Door Installation Video Series how to do both of these things.

I've used with great success the Jamsill plastic door / window sill pans. They're easy to install.