Application of sealant in winter...
 

Hi,

I recently uncovered a mold/water issue in my basement. I have removed the drywall, insulation and framing and have scrubbed the cement wall with soap and water and then bleach. I have found the source of the water as a leaky patio door on the main floor. The water is leaking between the door sill and the brick and is running inside the wall and out under the sill plate where the main floor meets the basement wall. First question...there is a thin styrofoam layer between the sill plate and the top of the cement wall what is the purpose of this? Hopefully it isn't to seal out water because it isn't working :eek:. Second question...the weather here is -10C (14F) and I need to seal this door up so no more water gets in. Are there any sealant products out there that can be applied at this temp? I have read about a product called Lexel made by Sashco Sealants...anyone heard of this? Anyone have any tip/tricks for applying silicone at this temp?

Thanks for all your help folks...

Welcome Zavs:
The styrofoam may have been part of the packing material that didn't get removed.
You may want to use butyl rubber caulk but be sure to have some paint thinner for clean-up. It is sticky and stringy.
Glenn

If it's that cold, where is the water coming from? I'm guessing you have a frost problem, and it's melting and running down the basement wall. In which case, you have warm air escaping and frigid air entering. Where they meet will be where the frost collects. Then when the temp rises, it melts and runs downward. If it were me, I'd be looking for a major air leak, and not a water leak...unless I'm missing something here.

Good luck!
Oh, and I would use spray foam if possible.

Thanks guys
 

Thanks for the welcome. Whatever the styrofoam is for it has helped my sill plate from rotting :). Thanks for the tip on the butyl rubber caulk...I'll take a look for it.

Sorry I guess I wasn't totally clear. The water isn't coming in now during the winter. I determined the source of the leak by pouring a pail of water around the bottom of the patio door...that is the water I am talking about (and am assuming that is where the water has been coming in in the past). When I tore off the drywall the 2x4's were saturated with water and mold.

Thanks for the suggestion of spray foam. I have considered that but wasn't sure it if was water tight and cosmetically it wouldn't be optimal. But I could spray foam it now and in the spring cut out as much spray foam as possible and then seal it with silicone.

What about warming the brick and the metal on the door frame with a propane torch and then applying the silicone...but then I thought about expansion and contraction and am not sure if that is a great idea?

Thanks.

I have a friend who's a plumber in Ohio. I visited him on the job once in mid winter and it was very cold. He was gluing up joints of PVC in the extreme cold. He had taken a cheap plastic tarp, you know the blue things you see at Lowe's, and had a kerosene heater blowing into it. If you can find one of the heaters and borrow it, maybe a farmer, they use them a lot. My farming family called them "little red hen heater". Just make an encloser, very simple, and blow into it till it warms up. Do the caulking and let it set up. One filling on the heaters usually last for hours. They use kerosene.
I'm familiar with your problem because I had the same one with my front door sill leaking into my basement bathroom. Settleing of my front stoop let the stoop pull away from under the sill a bit and caused my leak. A good bead of high grade caulk stopped the leak. Hope this idea helps