ᐅ Installing an Entrance Door – Thermal Bridge and Mold Issues?

Hello,

About a month ago, a new front door was installed for us. Since it’s an older building, the floor tiles have always extended a few centimeters into the exterior area, even after the new door was fitted. This was not an issue and was clear from the start.
Because the house is not perfectly straight, the installer asked if he should avoid fitting the new door flush against the wall on one side, since otherwise the tiles protruding under the door into the exterior would extend different distances outside — approximately 3 cm (1.2 inches) on the left side and 1 cm (0.4 inches) on the right.
He emphasized that this was purely an aesthetic consideration and did not represent a technical problem.
So, it was done accordingly: the left side of the door was set back about 2 cm (0.8 inches), meaning it was not installed tight against the wall, and the resulting gap was sealed with silicone. This also meant that the interior trim strip at the top of the door no longer aligned directly with the wall. Silicone was applied there as well. Now, after about a month, the silicone on the exterior is still not fully set and especially inside, above the door where the trim does not contact the wall, the silicone remains liquid — even more liquid than it would coming straight out of the tube.
This raises the question for me whether the door should have been installed tightly against the wall after all. Perhaps it is not only an aesthetic issue as the installer said, but a technical one too. So, was a thermal bridge effectively created, causing a potential mold risk? On the exterior, the silicone can be easily pressed in by finger. That doesn’t seem normal, does it?

Could someone please advise?

Regards,
Kai

The flush mounting on the wall will not be installed anyway; the opening is always slightly larger than the building element. Instead of silicone, the installer should have used compressible tape or foam. I don’t think filling the joint with silicone is appropriate.

I would call the installer back and ask them to remove the silicone and then apply foam. The foam will also provide some insulation. They are responsible for the quality of their work.

Did I understand this correctly? The front door was installed directly on the floor tile???

No. Maybe it was described unclearly. The frame is basically attached to the wall on one side at the front, while on the other side it was set back by 2-3 cm (about 1 inch), which created a gap at the top because the cover strip does not extend far enough to the back.

Here are the pictures. View: inside, molding from above. You can see that the gap increases from left to right. You could almost poke through the outer silicone with a needle; the distance is about 2 cm (1 inch).

Sorry, I still can’t quite picture it. Could you maybe upload one or a few pictures?