Patio door bottom sill over brick/concrete block

jomama45 · 04-11-2012, 05:15 PM

If you're going to have an 8" step from the interior floor to the deck, I would suggest laying a brick "rowlock" under the threshold, either before or after the patio door is installed. This way, it will match the rest of the house. Skip the wood, it won't look right & it won't last near as long.

cjf1980 · 04-11-2012, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cortell

I'd make it thick and use concrete, and I'd tie it into the concrete block with rebar (reaching to 3/4" from the top of the sill.

I've attached a pic with the proposed slab in black outline. The vertical lines are the rebar.
Is this a good solution?
I'll be covering the wood beams below with roofing felt #30.
I don't see any waterproofing between the concrete block and the beams which suggests it wasn't done in the early 50's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jomama45

If you're going to have an 8" step from the interior floor to the deck, I would suggest laying a brick "rowlock" under the threshold, either before or after the patio door is installed. This way, it will match the rest of the house. Skip the wood, it won't look right & it won't last near as long.

Jomama, appreciate the input. If the slab laps over and below the brick, that takes care of the rowlock. I'm still worried about the concrete cracking with time.
A local friend contractor says there is no guarantee anyone will give .
Attached is a pic with more of the deck.

Thanks,
CJ

cortell · 04-11-2012, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjf1980

I've attached a pic with the proposed slab in black outline. The vertical lines are the rebar.
Is this a good solution?
I'll be covering the wood beams below with roofing felt #30.
I don't see any waterproofing between the concrete block and the beams which suggests it wasn't done in the early 50's.

That is in fact what i was envisioning...except for the lip. How do you plan to form that with poured concrete? That would be one fancy form. I was thinking you'd go out flush with the brick exterior.

Funny. I had started writing out "use 30lb roofing felt" to cover the joists, but I'm suspecting it's going to be difficult to get good coverage that way. You're going to have to make some sharp bends in the felt, I think, and that means the felt could crack and open up. So, I went with roofing tar. If you can make it work with roofing felt, more power to you. Much less mess :-)

I'd also run a bar of rebar from left-to-right both at the front and the back of the sill. Keep it 2" from the exterior side; 3/4 from the interior side. If you're worried about cracking, that will help. All concrete cracks. The trick is to control where it cracks.

cjf1980 · 04-12-2012, 10:56 AM

Here's a pic with a rowlock used for the sill.
The door could be sitting on a 2x6 framed flush behind the rowlock with a space between.

I'm being told that I'm overthinking it, but I'd like to be sure and understand the options.

Thanks once again, Cordell, jomama45, Joecaption

Appreciate any inputs.

CJ