Exterior door threshold

[Windows]

The cold weather has reminded me that a previous owner of our house thought an iron threshold to the front door would be a great idea. It’s certainly a hard wearing option, but it’s basically a heat sink for pulling warmth from the house and depositing it outside, so I’m going to replace it. If anyone has any advice about replacing thresholds on Edwardian properties - perhaps links to instructions from the period - I’d be grateful. Maybe iron thresholds were favoured by the Edwardians? It’s not an ideal option in the Cumbrian climate though.

 

[Lurker]

I know what you mean. I altered the position of our front door ( moved it forward and fitted a new door).
For a step nosing I used a rounded edging slab and covered the joint between the slab and the concrete floor with a flat width of aluminium.
It looks and works well, but in the winter I have to wipe away condensation sitting on the aluminium most days.
With hindsight, I should have included a thermal break.

 

[Windows]

The condensation on everything is amazing. We had our first frost earlier this week. I don’t expect anything will be dry again until April.

 

[AndyT]

If anyone has any advice about replacing thresholds on Edwardian properties - perhaps links to instructions from the period - I’d be grateful.

I don't have any experience to draw on - most houses I'm familiar with just have a flat step and a howling draught - but here are some details from Paul Hasluck's Carpentry and Joinery, from 1907.

It shows a wrought iron weather bar, set into a wooden threshold, butting against a rebate in the bottom of the door.

 

[Windows]

Thanks Andy. That’s interesting.

Underneath - from outside to inside - we’ve got a stone step, a gap, a concrete or stone support, a gap, and a wooden joist. Over the top, we’ve got a cast iron, ramp-on-both-sides, flat-top threshold that extends completely under the door from outside to inside, held up by the concrete/stone support and covering the gaps between the floorboards and the stone steps.

There’s weak and missing wood at the end of the floorboards under the iron threshold. It’s currently dry and I see no signs of active mould. Hard to know if it’s progressing, but I think not - the initial damage must have been done at least a decade ago, possibly many decades: there was a weird concrete patch with wine corks embedded in it filling a gap at the corner where a floorboard had rotted away that was covered by carpet. It’s not the kind of bodge that I’d expect either of the previous two owners to do. We’ve been here for 6 years now.

It’s possible the iron is still causing condensation to form that would cause rot if the floorboards were still in contact, but the decay may have solved the problem by causing the wood to retreat. Alternatively the rot was caused by a leak at the corner where the patch was - long since fixed.

I think I’m going to splice in some wood to fix the floorboards. They’re mostly very solid. Not quite sure how easy it’ll be to remove the iron threshold.

 

[AndyT]

It's interesting to see the ideas different builders came up with. I'm pretty sure that in Scotland, for example, lots of details were different, presumably to cope with stronger winds and more snow. Cumbria has the same problems!

Catalogues of currently available threshold draught excluders show even more clever ideas and maybe do something about not conducting heat away.

I'm no expert on building regs, but Part P covers thresholds and even if the regs don't apply in your case it seems like a good idea to make your front door accessible to wheelchairs.

(And looking back at what I posted last night, the text makes it clear that the weather bar was fitted into a stone step, not wood. I ought to pay more attention!)

 

[Doug71]

I live in a Victorian property and so that everything is in keeping I have tried to seal the bottom of the doors using traditional methods, despite my best efforts if it's raining heavily and the wind is in the wrong direction I can get a bit of water coming in.

Not the most traditional looking things but I don't think you can beat a Macclex threshold for the bottom of a wooden door, available in different colours, lengths and depths depending on the thickness of your door, also available with a thermal break to cut down on condensation.

Exitex Macclex 15/2 Threshold - Black - Inward Opening Door - Weatherbars - Weatherbars & Door Surrounds - Thresholds & Weatherbars - Marches Architectural Ironmongery

Fitting Instructions: Remove rubber seals from the aluminium sill section. Check width between the inside faces of the door frame rebate and cut aluminium section to this size. Cut the rubber seals 10mm longer than the aluminium and reinsert into the g

www.marchesironmongery.co.uk

 

[Windows]

Still not sure exactly how or whether to remove the iron threshold, but I’ve pulled some rotten skirting off the wall. Not only the skirting was rotten, but also rotten were the wedges holding the nails that held the skirting to the wall - which made removal pretty easy. Half the grey plaster (?) behind the skirting also fell off the wall in powdery lumps.