Craftsman Inspections

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Submitted by TimothyPope on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 20:08. The trim around my kitchen window has been damaged since we bought the house and has gotten worse over the past few years. I finally remembered to buy some replacement trim and got this little repair taken care of this week. A bedroom window had a similar problem, so that trim got replaced too. Rotten trim is a common deferred maintenance item I find on houses when inspecting. Time estimation: This job was just two 3 foot sections of trim to replace so it should have taken 3 hours (or less), with drying time (Unfortunately, this turned into a two day project with 3 trips to Lowes. I failed to take proper inventory before starting and having two small kids at home doesn’t quite promote productivity). Measure, cut, and prime the replacement trim boards. -Cut the old trim caulk along the siding and window seams. Pry the damaged trim away. -The next chore took the longest. Cleaning the old caulk away. I removed cracked caulk from all around the windows, which was likely the cause of the water penetration to begin with. The original installer had filled a one inch gap between the window and a piece of trim that I was not replacing. I eventually got it all out, but it would’ve been easier to have just removed ALL of the trim around this window for the sake of time. But, I had already invested in salvaging what was there and had only so much wood to reinstall. For these giant voids, I trekked back to Lowes and bought some backer rod. This is a foam, rope-like material you can caulk directly over. Most caulks just won’t hold up to filling such large gaps by themselves.

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