This is the same Inner Sunset home as the reclaimed-brick backsplash. It’s a $2.5 million multi-story townhouse in San Francisco’s fog belt, where moisture is a fact of life. The exterior trim was in disrepair and water-damaged, and the damage had never been given a chance to dry out.
How it got this way
The house appears to have been repainted while it was suffering from water intrusion, the trade term for water getting in. The paint wasn’t a breathable type, so instead of protecting the wood, it sealed the water in. The trim wasn’t suited to exterior use in the first place, and earlier fixes had leaned on wood putty and even auto-body filler, which cover the symptom and trap the cause.
Re-trimming the entire exterior was quoted at around $220,000. Trim is mostly cosmetic rather than structural (siding is a different matter), so the owners asked for a stop-gap: punch out and patch the dry-rotted areas along the front walkway. Since it will all need to be redone eventually, we agreed.
Dry first, then patch
Each damaged area was opened up with plunge cuts from an oscillating multi-tool, cutting out the rot down to sound wood. Then comes the step that gets skipped most often: letting it dry. When water has gotten in, it has to be allowed to leave. Patch or paint over wet wood and you’ve sealed the moisture in behind your own repair, and the rot keeps going where no one can see it.
Once dry, the areas were patched to be nearly invisible, and small breathe-ways were left so moisture could evaporate out of the enclosed posts without letting rain in.
How we structure the work
Every project runs on milestone payments, tied to the percentage of work completed. That protects both sides. The client never owes a large balloon payment at the end for work they can’t judge until it’s done, and I’m never paid ahead of the work, which would leave the client exposed. If a project changes course, the account is already square.
That mattered here. The broader project, including the kitchen, narrowed in scope, and eventually we went our separate ways. Because payments tracked the work, the parting was about as fair and amicable as a dissolved contract gets.
Work in progress looks unfinished; that’s what it is. Some steps, like drying time, can’t be rushed. I just can’t, in good conscience, seal in water damage and call it a repair.
Dealing with water damage or rotted trim? See how we keep projects stress-free, or send photos for an estimate.
