Exterior wood maintenance: a yearly checklist for trim, paint and decks

Trim, sills and fascia

• Press a screwdriver into window sills, the bottoms of door frames and corner boards. It should not sink in
• Look for paint peeling off in sheets, not just chalking. That usually means water behind it
• Check the fascia and soffit under any gutter that overflows in heavy rain

Rot here is a symptom. The cause is usually a gutter, a flashing detail or a failed caulk line. Gutter and roof drainage repairs are roofing work, so we name them in the scope rather than leave them unsaid.

Caulk and paint

• Look at caulk around windows, doors and where trim meets siding. Cracked or pulled-away caulk lets water straight in
• Look for bare wood anywhere. Bare wood left unprimed is where most peeling starts
• Look at the sunny and rainy sides of the house first. They fail first

Painting season here runs spring through autumn, with an eye on humidity as much as temperature. Paint applied in the wrong conditions will not cure properly, whatever the can says.

Decks

• Start at the ledger, where the deck attaches to the house. Look for rust, gaps and loose fasteners. This is the part that fails dangerously
• Push on the posts at the base and the joist ends. Soft wood there is a framing problem, not a board problem
• Grab the railings and lean. They should not move

New boards on failing joists buys a couple of years and wastes the material. Check the framing before you budget for a new surface.

What to do with what you find

Shallow rot in a sound board can sometimes be repaired. Rot in something that carries load gets replaced. New wood should be primed on all faces, including cut ends.

Write down what you found and send photos. That is enough for a first conversation.