Hidden Problem Resolved (11/19/20)

When the house was purchased, it was clear that the exterior steel cellar door unit at our son’s place needed to be replaced. Age, lack of care and location all were all factors. The exterior cellar entrance is located under a wood deck, with access through a lift-off section. Over the years the left side of the steel door frame and the bottom of both steel doors had rusted through. The prior owners covered the doors it with green fiberglass sheets to keep rain and snow water out of the basement.

During the recent warm fall weather we tackled replacing the steel door unit before staining and sealing the deck. The big challenges were finding a steel door unit that fit on the foundation and also fit within the 5 inches of vertical clearance between the top of the foundation and underside of the deck. No luck. So, we used steel doors on a flat frame that fit the foundation and custom built a treated wood sloping frame to set them on. The wood frame was covered with white aluminum before placing the new steel doors on top. All joints were caulked with a high quality rubberized caulk.

The series of photos above and below shows the old steel doors, the concrete foundation after the concrete top was patched, the wood frame in process with the white aluminum flashing, the finished new steel doors, the lift off deck access section replaced (stained and sealed before that), and a view of the entire deck after being stained and sealed.

On the cellar end of the entry, the challenge was a door that sealed tightly but could be opened/closed easily, in the face of low hanging pipes. Weather stripping on the face of the door frame and a door held against it with three "bar the door" mechanisms did the trick.