Wood rot repair before painting in Indianapolis

Warning signs

Signs of rot to check for

• Soft under a screwdriver

  Wood that dents or crumbles under light pressure is rotted.

• Dark staining at ends

  Gray or black wood at sill ends and trim bottoms holds water.

• Paint bubbling in one spot

  Blisters on trim often sit over wet, softening wood.

• Gaps opening at joints

  Swelling and shrinking wood pulls joints apart and lets water in.

• Mushrooms or insects

  Fungus growth or ants in trim are signs of long-term moisture.

From your call to the final walk-through

How a rot repair runs

1. 01

   Call and describe the damage

   Where the soft wood is and how long it has been soft.

2. 02

   Probe and find the cause

   We map the rot and look for the water source.

3. 03

   Written scope

   Pieces to replace or consolidate, materials and paint.

4. 04

   Cut out

   Soft wood removed back to sound material with backing.

5. 05

   Replace or consolidate

   New primed wood fitted, or epoxy for small detailed areas.

6. 06

   Seal and prime

   Joints sealed where designed to be, repairs primed.

7. 07

   Paint to match

   Two coats so the repair disappears into the house.

Variations of this job

The wood rot repair before painting jobs we get called for

Window sill replacement

Sills catch rain and hold it against the end grain, so they rot first on most houses. We probe the sill along its length, cut out the soft section or remove the full sill if the rot runs under the casings, and fit a new sill with the proper slope so water runs off. The new wood is primed on every face, including the ends and underside, before installation. Joints to the casing and siding are sealed where they are meant to be, and the drip edge underneath is left open.

Fascia and rake board replacement

Fascia rots behind gutters and at the lower corners where the rake board meets it. We take down the gutter section, probe the fascia, cut back to sound wood at a rafter tail so the joint has backing, and install new primed fascia, often in a rot-resistant material like PVC or engineered trim where it will be painted anyway. The drip edge and gutter go back on, and the gutter is checked for the leak or overflow that caused the rot in the first place.

Epoxy consolidation

Epoxy consolidation is for small areas of rot in pieces worth saving: a carved corbel, an original sill end, the profile of a historic door casing. We dig out the soft wood, dry the area, saturate the remaining fibers with a liquid consolidant that hardens them, then fill and shape with an epoxy filler that can be sanded and painted like wood. It keeps original material in place and works well on older houses, but it is not a substitute for replacement on large or structural sections.

Trim board replacement

Corner boards, door casings and the bottom trim along siding rot where they meet the ground, the porch floor or a roofline. We remove the soft length, check the sheathing behind it for moisture damage, and replace it with new primed trim cut to match the profile. On houses where the same trim has failed more than once, we suggest a cellular PVC replacement at the bottom few inches where splashback hits, which takes paint well and does not rot no matter how often it gets wet.

Related services

Other exterior painting work we handle