ivy growing between sliding glass door frame

Question

On the ground floor of my house, I have a sliding glass door. A small stalk of ivy has grown through the caulk (or other sealant?) between the frame/wall of the house and the frame of the sliding glass door.

What's the best way to repair this?

Current thinking:

1. Immediately cut the ivy so it doesn't widen further. Trim back the ivy so other strands don't invade the house.
2. Wait for the ivy to die off, then remove the ivy from the gap.
3. Caulk in the hole

What criteria are best to determine how to repair the hole/gap leading out of the house?

Answer 1

Having a picture would be good. If ivy is growing there, it means it is getting water somehow, which is bad. Just cutting the visible part will not fix the critical problem, which is the water supply.

When ivy grows it creates a thick mat of small roots and veins that make sort of a carpet in the floor of the area. This mat has to receive water for the ivy to grow. You need to find the root mat the ivy is growing out of, and remove it. Then you need to clean away the dirt there. Also, you need to figure out how it was getting water in the first place and change the drainage around your house so that water is not being fed to that area.