What Upstate Humidity Does to Exterior Wood
Rot starts on the side you cannot see
Wood in the Upstate rarely fails where you can see it. It fails on the side facing the wall.
Greenville sits humid for most of the year, and paint only protects the face of a board. Moisture gets in at the end grain and the back, where nothing was ever sealed.
The tell is a soft spot, not a stain. Press a screwdriver into fascia, trim, or a deck board near a fastener. If it sinks, the board is gone regardless of how the paint looks.
Where it starts: fascia behind gutters that hold water, the bottom of door and window casings, deck boards over joists where water sits in the gap, and any wood shaded all day.
Why it spreads: rot is fungal and it travels along the grain into framing. A soft fascia board becomes a soft rafter tail, which becomes a roof repair.
What to do about it: replace the board, seal every cut end including the back, and fix whatever held the water there. Painting over soft wood buys you one season.
Timing: late winter and early spring, before the rain and the heat. Exterior carpentry in August is miserable and the caulk does not cure the same.
If a board feels soft, send us a photo. We will tell you whether it is a board or a bigger problem.
