§ 03.11Rotted wood + trim — TX + OH
The visible rot is rarely where the water entered. We trace the failure to the gutter detail, the missing kickout, the sealant pan that gave up upstream — fix that first, then rebuild the trim. We will not paint over wet wood; that scope buys you one season.
If the painter said yes, we say diagnose first.
The most common shortcut is paint over wet wood. It looks right for a season — long enough to close on the house, long enough to take the listing photo. Then the substrate keeps softening behind a fresh coat.
The painter's scope
Spot-prime the soft fascia, caulk the corner-board seam, two coats. Done in a day.
The honest scope
Probe + meter the suspect run. Install the missing kickout. Reset the drip edge. Replace the rotted boards in PVC. Then paint. Three days. Twenty years.
We carry a pin meter on every walk. The number on the screen is what separates a paint bid from a carpentry bid — the number a paint-only contractor cannot afford to take.
Dry
Substrate is sound. The peel test passes, the meter reads dry. A real prep + two-coat repaint is the honest spec.
Damp
Borderline. Either a recent storm (wait two dry weeks, then re-test) or a slow upstream leak. A surface-paint scope here is a coin flip we won't take.
Wet
The substrate feeds the rot whenever it rains. Surface paint over this is a six-month finish. We pull the trim, photograph the failure, and write the source-fix scope.
Saturated
Wood fiber is past return — soft, fungal, structurally compromised. Replacement is the only honest answer; the painter comes after the carpenter.
Fascia and water tables get one answer. High, protected trim gets another. Long painted runs get a third. The matrix below is the conversation we have on the walk.
| Material | Upfront | Movement | Paint behavior | Right call | Wrong call |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cellular PVCAzek and similar | $$$ | High — accommodate at joinery | Holds well, slow chalking | Fascia · water tables · ground-level trim | Long uninterrupted painted runs |
| Fiber CementJames Hardie trim | $$ | Low — dimensionally stable | Excellent, factory-primed | Long runs · painted facades · fire-zone | Detailed historic profiles |
| Primed WoodPine or fir, primed all six sides | $ | Moderate — manage with prime + paint | Good if upstream detail is sound | High protected trim · historic profiles | Anywhere water still has a path in |
We don't have a margin preference here. The right call is the right call for the wall.
Wood rot on the exterior usually traces to one of eight upstream details. Most are roof-edge or window-perimeter. None are the painted board you can see from the driveway.
Roof eave
Missing kickout flashing — water sheets behind the gutter and drowns the fascia from the back.
Gutter back-edge
No drip edge or undersized — capillary action wicks runoff onto the fascia top.
Soffit return
Roof-edge ventilation gap shut — moisture cannot escape and condenses on the soffit panel.
Window head
Head-flashing pan failed — every storm runs water onto the casing.
Window sill
Sash glazing or sealant pan past life — water pools, wicks into the sill horns.
Corner board
Siding-to-trim caulk failed — wind-driven rain finds the seam, runs down the back.
Deck-to-wall ledger
Flashing tucked under siding — water lands in the joint and stays.
Ground-level trim
Backsplash from a downspout — bottom 12 inches stays wet for years.
§ 12Continue the manual — related to this page
§ 03.10Remodeling
Same paint, four walls, four different jobs.
Two-coat exterior paint scoped per elevation — Sherwin-Williams Duration on the south and west, Resilience on the north, Aura on premium east walls, limewash on stone and brick. Real prep, UV-stable caulks, climate window honored.
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§ 03.08Remodeling
The board you see is one of seven layers.
Vinyl, LP SmartSide, and James Hardie — scored against your wall, your climate, and how long you plan to own. Sheathing first, wrap and tape next, rainscreen behind LP, then board, trim, and finish.
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§ 01.05Roofing
The leak shows where water exits, not where it enters.
Trace from the ceiling stain back to the entry — pipe boot, kickout, dead valley, or not the roof at all. The fee credits back to a repair when the repair follows.
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§ 03.09Remodeling
Find the leak first. The mold is downstream.
Source-first remediation: moisture meter on every suspect surface, 6-mil poly under HEPA negative pressure, substrate cut twelve inches past the colony per IICRC S520, in-house rebuild. No fog-and-spray.
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§ 04.01Programs
Your storm. Your scope. Your carrier's check.
Fifteen years on the carrier side. Documented loss, written scope, adjuster meeting on-site. Out-of-pocket: deductible only.
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§ 06Reach the dispatch desk
We probe every suspect board, photograph the upstream detail, and email the file before we leave the driveway. Whether it is one corner-board or the full fascia, the scope is line-itemed and the source-of-rot is named.
(214) 578-9961