What happens during a wood rot repair, from the first probe to the final coat of paint

The timeline in one paragraph

A wood rot repair starts with a free inspection, where the damage is probed, photographed and written into an itemized quote. Once you approve it, most repairs are finished in about a day, and larger or multi-area projects take two to three days, including primer and paint. The job ends with a walkthrough, before-and-after photos and activation of the ten-year warranty.

I'm Ben Henderson, owner of Preservan Dallas. We at Preservan repair rotted windows, doors, trim, porch posts and deck posts in place with structural epoxy. People who have never had this kind of work done often expect weeks of disruption, the way a remodel goes. It is much smaller than that, and knowing each step ahead of time makes the days easier.

Step one: the assessment visit

A technician walks the house with you and probes every area you are worried about, plus the places rot usually hides that you may not have checked: the lower corners of sills, the bottoms of door jambs and brick mold, trim under gutters and the bases of posts. Each damaged area is documented and photographed, and the technician looks for the reason it got wet, because a repair that leaves the water source in place will not last.

Porches and decks get the same attention. The base of a porch post or column, the end of a beam and the posts of a deck where they meet the ground are all places where water collects and decay hides under paint. If insects caused any of the damage, the technician will say so, because an active infestation has to be treated by a licensed pest professional before we repair the wood.

If you have tape marks or notes from checking the house yourself, have them ready. They save time and help make sure nothing is missed. Expect the visit to be a conversation, not a sales pitch. We do not sell replacement windows or doors, and the point of the visit is to work out what the wood actually needs.

Step two: the quote and the go-ahead

After the visit you receive an itemized digital quote with the photos, the repair for each location and our recommendations, with no upselling. Read it the way you would any contract: each window, door or post should be named, finishing should be spelled out, and anything we think should be replaced rather than repaired should say why. If you want to understand how the number was built, I cover that in what drives the cost of a rot repair.

Scheduling depends on the season and how busy the crew is. One homeowner wrote in a review that they spoke with me on a Tuesday, approved the quote, and had the crew at the house at nine the next morning. That is not a promise for every job, but it shows that the gap between approval and repair is usually short.

Once decayed wood is opened up, the damage occasionally turns out larger than the probe showed. If that happens, we show you what we found and agree any change with you before doing the extra work.

Getting the house ready

There is not much to do, but a little preparation keeps the work moving and protects your things. Most of it is about access and keeping the wood dry.

• Clear a path to each repair area outside: move grills, planters and furniture away from the walls.
• If a window will be worked on from inside, as second-story windows sometimes are, clear the sill and the floor in front of it.
• Turn off sprinkler zones that hit the repair areas for a day or two beforehand, so the wood is as dry as possible.
• Have your paint color name or a can of the existing paint ready if you want the repair painted to match.
• Plan for pets to be kept away from the immediate work area while the crew is cutting and sanding.

Repair day, step by step

This is the part most people are curious about. The work happens in place, so the window or door stays where it is and stays usable for most of the day.

The step that takes the most skill is the shaping. Epoxy that is simply smoothed flat will show as soon as the light hits it, and a sill without its drip edge will send water back under itself. Matching the original lines is what makes the repair both invisible and durable, and it is where an experienced technician earns the time on the quote.

• Rot removal: every soft, decayed fiber is cut and scraped out down to sound wood, using dust extraction to keep the area clean.
• Stabilizing: the remaining wood is treated with a marine-grade consolidator, which firms up the fibers the repair will bond to.
• Rebuilding: the missing section is filled with Everesin structural epoxy, which chemically bonds to the wood and cures without shrinking.
• Shaping: once cured, the epoxy is sculpted and sanded to the original contours, so a sill gets its slope and drip edge back and molding gets its exact profile.
• Sealing: the repair is primed and finished with color-matched paint or stain to block future moisture.

Why some jobs run two or three days

A single sill or the base of one door jamb is often finished in a day. Jobs take longer when there are many locations, because each one goes through every step on its own. Height adds time: a second-story window may need ladders, and some have to be worked on from both inside and outside. Ornate profiles take longer to recreate than flat trim, and structural pieces such as porch posts or columns need extra care.

Weather matters too. Exterior primer and paint need dry surfaces, so a rainy stretch can push the finishing to the next dry day. Removing old failed patches, which we find on many houses, also adds time before the real repair can start. Your quote should give you a realistic number of days, and the crew should stay on your job until it is done.

What the crew will not be doing

It helps to know the edges of the job. We repair wood; we do not treat termites or provide pest control, and we are not a general handyman or a window replacement company. If the inspection finds rot that has run into wall framing, or a problem such as a leaking roof or a failing gutter, the quote will say so and suggest the kind of trade you need, but that part of the work is done by others.

Keeping the scope tight is part of why the work is fast. The crew arrives knowing exactly which pieces are being repaired, with the materials for those repairs, and does not get pulled into unrelated projects halfway through the day.

Living at home while the work happens

You do not need to move out or even stay home all day, as long as the crew can reach the work areas. Expect some noise from cutting and sanding, mostly in short bursts. Dust is controlled with extraction at the point of removal, and the site is left clean when the crew finishes. Our products are described as pet safe, though the work area itself is no place for a curious dog while tools are running.

If a door or a window is being repaired, it stays in its opening the whole time, because nothing is removed from the wall. If there is any reason you should avoid using it for part of the day, the crew will tell you before they start, so you can plan around it.

The walkthrough, and what you receive at the end

When the work is finished, we walk the repairs with you. You see each area, and you receive before-and-after photos for your records. Those photos are useful later, whether for an insurance file, a future buyer or simply to remember what was done. The ten-year warranty is activated at this point: if the work fails because of workmanship, we fix it.

If you did not have the paint color on hand, we can leave the repair primed so you can paint it yourself later. One homeowner did exactly that and painted after choosing the color. We also talk about what will keep the area dry from here on, which I go into in how to keep rot from coming back after a repair.

Keep the photos and the warranty paperwork with your house records. If you sell, a buyer's inspector or agent will want to know what was repaired and when, and a documented repair with a long warranty answers that question far better than a fresh coat of paint with no history behind it.

Booking the first visit

Request an assessment and tell us where you have seen soft or peeling wood and roughly how many spots there are. We will probe, photograph and send the itemized quote, and the inspection costs nothing. If you are selling a house and have a deadline from an inspection report, say so when you book, because the timing matters; I wrote about that situation in what to do when an inspection report says wood rot.

We work across Dallas and the northern suburbs, including Uptown, Lakewood, Addison, Richardson, Plano, Allen and Rockwall. Most of the houses we repair are back to normal by the end of the first or second day, with the original windows and doors still in place.

Questions people ask me