Mold on Inside of Patio Door

[92sb4x4oh]

I have an issue with a patio door at a second home that my wife owns in western Ohio. The house is around a lake area but not on the lake. We leave the heat on during the winter with the thermostat set at 60*. When you look at the pictures you will see the mold on the door and it has gotten so bad that it is turning into black mold. The door is mounted facing west with only the overhang for any protection. This is the first year we have had this problem with the mold on the inside of the door. The outside is vinyl clad. My thought is because of the location of the heat vent in this space and the whole house is the problem because they were located in the ceiling. The house was already remodeled when she purchased the place in 2007. I think if I move the heating ducts to the floor level in this room it will solve the problem and if I do the same in the other rooms the floor area will be warmer in the winter. Any other suggestions would be great and should I replace this door now because of them mold or not. Thank You. I just attempted to upload a picture but it failed so I will try to upload them from a different PC to see if that helps.

 

[oldognewtrick]

It's easy to attach pics. Scroll down from the Reply to Thread box, a little lower than the Submit Reply button, you will see Additional Options click on the Manage Attachments and follow the directions.

 

[92sb4x4oh]

OK, here are the pictures of the patio door with the mod. Well, I tried to attach 3 pictures but this is the only one that would upload because the other two failed to upload. I tried each picture as a sepately but it did not work.

 

[92sb4x4oh]

OK, I believe that I figured out the cause of my pictures not loading and that is they were to big so I compressed them so let me see if I can upload them now.

 

[joecaption]

There's several things that can cause this.
#1 the deck was built to close to the threshold. There should have been a min. of a 4" step down so water would not get under the threshold. At least 3 times a year I get calls about rotted wood right at the doorway, everytime that's the cause. The door also should have been set in a sill pan, or at least flashed under the door.

#2 If the humidy is to high in the house the moisture is going to condence on the glass and run down onto the wood and rot it out. Running a dehumidifier would sure help. I'd set it on the kitchen counter and have the drain just drain into the sink while your away.

#3 Is this house built over a crawl space? Is there a 6 mil. vaper barrier on the ground?

 

[92sb4x4oh]

To answer you question Joecaption is that yes the house is built with a crawl space. I don't believe there is any vapor barrier on the ground or any insulation between the floor joist. When my wife purchased the place it was completely remodeled but I am finding he didn't do a very good job at it or anything else he did to the house. The person that owned it sealed the crawl space so you could not get into it at all now so I will most likely have to cut a hole in the floor to check on that area. He put in vents around the bottom about the size of a Campbell Soup can is all that I can find.

 

[joecaption]

Here some info you may find helpful.
http://www.airvent.com/homeowner/products/foundation.shtml

 

[92sb4x4oh]

Thanks for the info. I have already printed it off so I can read it between clients today.

 

[joecaption]

Sand paper would do nothing but grind the mold spores deeper into the material.