Tag: Rot

June 10, 2025 – When It Is Too Good to Be True, It Is

June 10, 2025 /

Sometimes, people that pride themselves into not getting duped, do. That’s me. And, hindsight being 20/20, I should have known better. I am a little angry and I second guess the whole process even if it might be the overall right decision. Let’s get into it.

In 2015, we were going to paint the house. It was at this point that some rot was discovered and ultimately led to us putting Hardie-plank over the existing T-111. It was also at that time that the front window started leaking. It is hard for me to believe but it is true that adding something on the outside caused leaking on the inside.

Over the years I have tried various things. I caulked around the upper window once and that seemed to work for a year. We hired somebody that didn’t know what they were doing and caulked on the inside (that was never going to work and it wasn’t worth pursuing given they clearly didn’t know what they were doing). In 2023, I paid a contractor to completely tear off and re-flash the window. It still leaked.

We batted around the idea of changing that window into a bay window in 2018. It was something I thought about doing during my break from work in 2019-2020 but I ended up getting involved in completely remodeling the apartment instead. Finally, my wife decided that she wanted to replace the front windows.

Have you seen the TV commercials where you buy one and get the second one free? My wife called them. These are triple glazed, argon filled, UV coated and lifetime guaranteed. I knew that it was going to be expensive and any business that advertises on TV was going to be suspect. I knew there was a leak and so I gave an extensive line of questioning. The final answer I got was that they were going to own the leak. I am sold.

Most people, myself included would say that two windows for $10,000 was over priced. I wasn’t just getting new windows, I was solving a problem that I had already spent $7500 on. I was told that any rot repair would be done outside of the window contract but that there would be a per linear foot cost and would be performed as part of the installation process.

I should have known that this was too good to be true. As the installers were tearing out the window, they said that structural damage was beyond the scope of the contract. Any additional rot repair would have to be performed first. They could do the work but were not authorized to start at the point that the window is out of the house and it would be two weeks out.

The installer advised me to get some additional estimates, his was going to be Time and Materials one to three days. Do you have any idea what it would be like to get someone within two weeks time to do the work? The longer this process takes, the longer there will be a hole covered with OSB in my front room. I am not a fool, I knew that there was a risk to more damage, I was already planning on redoing the sheetrock on the south side of the wall anyway due to water damage (after the new window). We could have solved this problem in the ten weeks we were waiting for the window.

I think that it is worth re-iterating, I am not looking for something for nothing. I knew that additional rot damage would be on our dime. I am also not surprised that there was more damage. I guess what is disappointing is that when he said they were going to own the leak, I believe what he really meant was that they were going to make sure that their windows were not the source and take as little responsibility as possible. I don’t honestly believe that they are vested in solving the problem.

All of that linear foot nonsense was about the wood casing itself. Really? In my experience rot is rarely limited to superficial trim. And so I am beat. I got suckered into buying windows that are five times more expensive than the average window all because I believed what I wanted to believe.

End Your Programming Routine: My gut feeling with these outfits is always no and from now on it will be. About two weeks later my wife called in a shower outfit and got a quote for a $20,000 shower. I was smart and said no to that one. The product brands are good and nice and all but they way overcharge and under deliver. I guess you are never too old to learn another lesson. One I should have known before the salesman walked in the door.

May 5, 2020 – Project Update for the week

May 5, 2020 /

I may sneak one more in this week, just because rapid visual changes are about to happen. I have the lap siding to finish the south side. Nevertheless, I will talk about what has been accomplished since the last update.

It has been a structural journey over the last week. Sill replacement has been the focus. I replaced eight feet of sill from the south east corner of the window all the way past the front door. I started with completing the demo in the front. That took two days.

I continue to preach… the root of this problem is poor building practice. I believe that the reason I am dealing with this problem is that the driveway was laid right against the house. Wet cement touching non treated wood will lead to rot. The sill was cedar, which was good, but no match for bad decisions. Six inches of soil should have been removed before the driveway was laid so that it wouldn’t be against the structure.

I removed and reset the door. The rough opening barely allowed the door to fit (they were exact measurements – opening and door). Fortunately, the framing around the door was rotting anyway, so I restructured the framing to allow for 1/4″ clearance around the door.

Because of the thickness of the sheathing and siding, the door did not fit properly into the opening with the trim. That was all rectified so that there will be a unified trim look and hopefully a better fit inside.

The door also needed new structure under the threshold. The last opening was actually hacked out of the sill. Not only was the sill rotten, but the height and angle left the threshold sagging and a gap under the door.

This whole process was a slow go with jacking and temporary supports. I needed surgical cuts with butchery grade tools and cancer of unknown spread. I think we are through the worst of it and look forward to putting it all back together.

Also exciting news, we have agreed on a price and scope of work to reconfigure the bathroom, the entry door will no longer be in the kitchen, stubs of pipes will no longer be out of the floor and there will be space to add a washer and dryer.

April 8, 2020 – Don’t pull that thread…

April 8, 2020 /

My wife and I were talking about all of the ‘Improvements’ that were considering for the cottage. On one of the walk-throughs we were looking at some mildew along the wall.

That got to looking around at a potential source of the problem. I found a problem with the siding.

Katy bar the door… I have a huge problem.

That is the corner post and sill of the room in the first picture. So, guess what I am doing… that’s right, rebuilding this place.

For a discerning slum lord, there is always the question of where to stop. If I was intellectually honest with myself, the entire sill shows evidence of being punky (that is code for almost rotten). There are literally studs that are rotten and sistered to new wood. I had no idea the building was in this bad of shape.

As of this point, I am optimistic that all of that can be repaired. Time, money and effort are all that is required. Believe it or not, I like to consider the future and how to prevent this again. Certainly, there are some better building materials but there are some worse ones as well. Today’s lumber does not hold a candle to the durability of the old growth used in 1979 (when this house was redone).

The sources of water must be considered. There was a bush up against the house, that was removed last fall. There are cherry trees hanging over the house, those were trimmed last fall. The gutter was plugged, I scooped it out, but the cherry trees still exist so that will be a maintenance activity.

Once the water gets to the ground, it needs to get away from the house. I am considering digging a drainage ditch. We will see.

I dont even have the full scope of the problem yet. So, I wont be able to present it until I know. What I can say is that I will be busy until this project is done.