Beautify Your Cincy Home by Having Exterior Wood Rot Repaired by a Pro
The arrival of spring is an ideal time to take a walk. A short walk around your Cincinnati home’s exterior will give you a rough idea of the sort of damage your house suffered during the winter. One key area is rotten exterior wood, and it calls for fast attention before it gets worse. Hiring a handyman service to provide exterior wood rot repair will make this spring’s to-do list easier.
Rot is caused when water enters and swells wood fibers. The cellulose in the wood breaks down and the wood becomes weak. Common issues with rotten wood include:
- Load-bearing wood members can fail, leading to catastrophic collapse
- Soft, rotten wood invites destructive insects to find food and lodging in the wood fibers
- Rotten wood increases moisture in and around your house, leading to mold and mildew
- Rotten wood is unsightly, decreasing property values
Spotting Wood Rot
Look at horizontal wood, such as the fascia boards around the roof edge, deck boards on your deck or porch and steps. Examine joints where water can enter exposed end grain. Notice where wood sits against concrete, brick or exposed dirt. If you see white mold, weird root-looking tendrils or algae growing on exposed wood, rot is likely lurking beneath. Take a screwdriver and push gently on the surface. If the screwdriver can enter the wood, it is rotten.
Treatment
A handyman service can perform exterior wood rot repair using tools and equipment you may not have with precision and expertise. Would you know when to replace structural pieces and when a board could be repaired in place? Such a service could actually save you money.
- Remove the rotten wood with hand tools and electric tools such as drills and saws.
- Clean the remaining surface.
- Preserve the remaining material with a wood preservative or wood hardener.
- Replace the wood structure if needed.
- Fill the damaged area with epoxy wood filler.
- Sand and paint to match the existing surface.
For additional advice on exterior wood rot repair for your Cincinnati area home, contact us at Apollo Home Heating, Cooling and Plumbing.
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