Rotted siding repair and replacement in Vancouver, WA

Most of the siding damage we see starts at the roof. Water comes off a lower roof section, hits a wall, and if the flashing at that joint is missing or bent, it runs behind the siding instead of into the gutter. The boards look fine for a few winters, then the bottom edges swell, the paint peels in strips, and a screwdriver sinks into the wood. Replacing those boards without fixing the water path only buys a few seasons.

Because we work on roofs every day, we treat siding as part of the same water system. We open the wall, check the sheathing and the weather barrier, rebuild any step or kickout flashing, and then install new siding that matches or replaces what you have. That can be a few boards under a dormer, one full wall that faces the weather, or the whole house when the old product has reached the end of its life.

Why siding fails near the roofline

The most common spot is where a sloped roof dies into a wall, like a garage roof meeting a two-story wall or a porch roof against the house. Without a kickout flashing at the bottom of that joint, all the water running down the step flashing dumps straight behind the siding. We find soft sheathing, black stains on the framing and sometimes mold on the drywall below these spots, even when the siding face looks only a little swollen.

Other causes are less dramatic but steady. Gutters that overflow splash water against the upper wall every storm. Sprinklers and soil piled against the bottom course keep the lowest boards wet. Old caulk at window trim shrinks and opens a gap. East wind drives rain sideways into butt joints that were never flashed. Each of these lets water in slowly, so the damage grows quietly behind the paint for years before anyone notices it.

Siding materials we repair and install

Most Vancouver-area homes have one of a few products, and each fails in its own way. We match what is there for repairs and talk through options when a wall or the whole house needs new material. Fiber cement is the common pick for replacements because it holds paint well and does not swell in our damp winters, but engineered wood and cedar still make sense on certain homes.

• Fiber cement lap and panel siding
• Engineered wood lap siding
• Cedar lap, bevel and shingle siding
• T1-11 and other plywood panel siding
• Vinyl siding on newer subdivisions
• Older hardboard siding, repaired or replaced

Repair or full replacement

A repair is the right call when the damage is local and the rest of the siding is sound. If most walls are tight and painted and only the area under a roof joint is soft, we cut back to solid material, replace sheathing and weather barrier, fix the flashing, and lace in new boards. Matching profile and reveal matters more than people expect; a mismatched board stands out from the street even after paint.

Replacement starts to make more sense when soft spots show up on several sides of the house, when the siding is an older hardboard product that swells wherever paint wears thin, or when the paint has failed so many times that it no longer bonds. Doing a full wall or the whole house also lets us add a rain screen gap and flash every window properly, which is hard to do piece by piece.

Timing siding work with a roof project

If you are planning a new roof in the next year or two, look at the siding at the same time. Roof-to-wall flashing is tucked behind the bottom course of siding, so a reroof often means pulling those boards anyway. Doing both together means the step flashing, kickouts and weather barrier get lapped in the right order, and you only pay once for the setup, staging and cleanup on that wall.