leaking door

[June]

My front door (typical mobile home door) has a small leak at the hinge side on the floor. At least that is where I see a tiny puddle when it rains hard. Everything looks sound on the outside, but somewhere it must not be. How on earth do I figure out where the water is coming in? I'd love to put a "regular" door in, and maybe this is the time.

[JD]

If the door is sealed to the siding and the siding looks good (which is usually the case) The problem can be a roof leak or water could be getting in where the aluminum threshold meets the side of the door frame. Many times these types of leaks only show themselves when it is raining real hard or from a certain direction.

Roof leaks are sometimes hard to pinpoint. On a metal roof, the water could be coming in from the j-channel, espeially when there is a build up of sealants from previous repairs. Sometimes metal roofs can develop stress fractures along the edges. These are caused by having an unusual bend in the metal near the edge. When the roof expands and contracts, it does an "oil canning" type of thing. Over time, this popping creates a hairline fracture in the metal.

Comp shingle roofs are notorious for developing a curve in the edge shingles. The low slope and a bump caused by the nose edging metal, as well as aging, causes this. When the curve gets big enough to cause water to travel sideways, it will usually result in a leak. This curve also may allow water in when it is overwhelmed by real hard rain or rain being blown in at that first row of shingles. If you install Ice & Water Shield of some other similar type of roof underlayment when installing a roof, you can usually avoid these leaks.

There are other possibilities, but these are the things I would look at first.

Hope this helps.

JD

[June]

Thanks!
The threshold is welded tight to the side of the frame, and I don't see any obvious way for it to be coming there. If I get a chance to observe the door in a hard driving rain, I'll watch carefully. In the meantime, it's way past time to look at the roof. I bought this '89 14' wide several years ago, and I've never looked at the roof, and it's been moved once. Ignorance may be bliss, but I've lived long enough to know there often comes a day of reckoning. It's metal and rattles in the wind and that's all I know. I'll get a ladder and take a look see and send pics if there's anything notable.