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Old 09-29-2009, 12:12 PM   #16
jmen24
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Couple of other things to look at while there.

Sill rot can be prevented from happening again by making sure that the grade is not to close to the wood material. In alot of older homes they did not come out of the ground very far because it was cheaper to build with wood that to lay granite blocks. If it is not possible to get the grade down (while maintaining proper slope away from the house) install a good bed of crushed stone in the 1 3/4" size range and install a gutter it you can (not everyone likes gutters, so we only put them up if asked for). It does not matter what material you replace it with, if it continues to get wet from splashing or from the the dirt wicking moisture into the wood it will rot. That goes for PT as well, a big misconception is that PT does not rot, that is not true. The process of Pressure Treating is to prevent insects from infecting the wood, anytime you subject wood to a repeated cycle of getting wet then drying, it will rot. The main goal is to keep water away in the first place. We have replaced many sills from many era's and it does not matter if it is a 200 year old 8x8, 6x8 or 15 year old 2x6 PT sill, if it gets wet it is not going to last.

If you do not believe me about PT not rotting, take a piece of PT and pour water over it, if it were designed to prevent rotdue to water, it would not absorb any water, let me know the findings.

Who ever does the work for you make sure they save you future hassles when they start putting things back together. They will need to replace the water table board and a couple courses of siding. If they put new material back up and it is wood, DEMAND that it is primed on all surfaces of the board, that includes end cuts. This small step will prevent you from replacing a rotted trim board in the next few years. The other option is to use composite trim such as Azek or Koma, only do this if it will fit the style and look of your home, but it will never rot.

Last edited by jmen24; 09-29-2009 at 12:16 PM. Reason: additional information
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