Finding soft, crumbling wood on your house is unsettling, and the first question is almost always how bad it is. The honest answer depends on where the water came from and how far the damage has travelled behind the surface and for how long.
Decay needs four things: wood to feed on, oxygen, a mild temperature, and moisture that lingers. Keep the wood dry and decay generally can’t stay active, which is why we fix the leak or gap that let the water in as carefully as we fix the wood itself. Replacing a rotten board without dealing with the cause only buys you a few seasons.
We repair rot on single-family homes across the Fraser Valley, from rotting deck planks and stairs to structural framing that has to be rebuilt. Whichever one you have, we’ll work through it with you and tell you plainly where things stand.
Rot is hard to price in advance because the damage you can see is often the smallest part of it. Nobody knows for certain how bad it is until the wall is opened up. Rot from an old leak is a classic hidden condition is usually worse than it appears at first.
After carefully opening the walls, roof or deck membranes as little as possible, we show you what we found and go over your options together. The added work and cost go in writing before we continue. You decide at each step, and nothing gets added without your approval.
Things that can increase the costs: how far the decay has spread, how hard the area is to reach (a second-storey fascia needs scaffolding, while a ground-level trim board doesn’t). The solution to the water getting in will also be part of the cost so it doesn’t happen again. If an engineer is needed to spec out new structural components, that would be an extra cost as well.
A small repair, such as a few trim boards or a section of fascia, can often be finished within days. Rot that has reached the framing or runs along a whole wall takes longer because the damaged section has to be exposed, dried, rebuilt, and closed back up in the right order.
Rain is the main scheduling factor. Provincial climate information points to heavier, more frequent rain in the Lower Mainland, with more of it falling in spring and fall, and an open wall can’t be left exposed to that. We plan repairs around the forecast and keep opened areas covered between work sessions, since the wood has to be dry before anything is closed in.
Rot tends to start wherever water gets in and can’t easily get out again. It can also be caused by improper building practices that don’t allow wood building materials to breath and moisture got trapped in.
Boards that stay damp along the bottom edge, around corners, or under a failing paint seam are the usual suspects. We cut out the damaged section and check what’s behind it before replacing it with new wood that has been sealed first. If the damage is only on the surface, we’ll say so and won’t replace what doesn’t need replacing.
Windows and doors are common trouble spots, since water follows the joint between the frame and the wall. Rot under a sill or beside a frame usually means the flashing (the strip or membrane that sheds water away from the joint) has failed. We repair the wood and rebuild the flashing together because fixing only one brings the problem back.
Deck joists, posts, beams, deck planks and stair stringers sit close to the ground and get wet from above and below. Their ends and connections are where rot usually begins, so the damaged members are replaced and the metal connectors checked for corrosion. If the whole surface needs waterproofing or replacing, that’s a deck project, and we’ll talk you through it.
When decay has reached studs, floor framing, beams or roof structures, the repair becomes structural. We support the load while the damaged wood is cut back to solid wood, then rebuild with an engineer’s input when the scope calls for it.
A good repair shouldn’t announce itself. We prepare new and existing wood so paint or stain takes evenly, and we’ll tell you honestly whether an old finish can be recoated or needs to be stripped back to bare wood first. Matching an aged colour is always an approximation, and we test before committing to a whole wall nut it can be very difficult. If matching isn’t possible we will discuss other options.
Every repair follows these steps:
In most BC municipalities, replacing trim, siding, or fascia with the same thing counts as maintenance and doesn’t need a permit, while structural repairs generally do. The rules are set locally, so we confirm with the City before we start. A missing permit can end up being the homeowner’s problem, so we check instead of assuming, and we take care of the paperwork if one is needed.
Older homes need one more step. They can contain materials such as asbestos, and WorkSafeBC requires them to be identified before renovation work disturbs them. If something turns up, a contractor holding the required WorkSafeBC licence removes it before we carry on.
An open wall, floor, deck or roof is a worry for most homeowners, and rightly so. We open only what the repair needs and cover exposed areas with weatherproof protection at the end of each day. We plan the work so things aren’t left open longer than they need to be.
Expect ladders or scaffolding and some noise from cutting, along with dust and debris near the work area, which we clean up as we go. If the repair is beside a door or window you use every day, we’ll tell you in advance when it will be affected.
Not in a way that changes the repair. “Dry rot” is a common name for decay that feels dry when you find it, but the decay started because the wood stayed wet for a long time. Dry rot contains spores that spread and makes other wood around it decay even if the wood seams dry. Wet rot is rotten wood that is still moist and the moisture is the main cause of it spreading. Either way, the fix is to remove the damaged wood and stop the moisture that caused it.
For minor surface damage where the cause has been fixed, a filler repair can be reasonable. Where the wood is soft all the way through, covering it hides the problem while the decay keeps spreading. It is extremely important to remove ALL of the rot or it will continue to spread.
We probe the wood and check its moisture, then open the area gradually until we reach firm, dry wood on every side. That edge, not what’s visible on the surface, decides how much comes out.
We stop, show you what we found, and explain your options. Any additional work and costs go into writing and gets your approval before we continue. Hidden damage is common enough that we raise the possibility before we start.
Not exactly. Mould and surface staining discolour wood, while decay breaks down the wood itself and weakens it. Both point to moisture, which makes it worth having soft or stained areas checked before you paint over them.
We prepare the wood and finish it to blend in, and we test colour before committing to a full wall, since aged paint and stain are hard to match exactly. Sometimes the best answer is to refinish the whole wall section so there’s no visible patch.
Element Pacific Homes has been providing comprehensive custom home building, home renovation, and home addition services to homeowners living throughout the Fraser Valley since 2014. All of our custom home services are performed by our highly trained and experienced team members who will go above and beyond to bring your dream home to life.
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