Trim and window rot

[JohnMartin8784]

A house I'm looking at has pretty significant wood rot on its trim and window sills. The siding, hardboard, is not sealed in many areas. House built in 1994. How likely is it that there is decay to the wood structures behind the trim and possible water infiltration and decay to the wall sheathing and wall studs below the windows sills? Attached a few pics. Thanks guys,

John

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[Marc]

Few, if any, folks were taking WRB's seriously back then, especially on brick exteriors, so I'm guessing that the chance of moisture damage to the framing is significant. When added to the presence of windows made from 'tree farm' varieties of wood, my recommendation is usually to replace those windows not protected from rainfall by a porch roof and be on the lookout for moisture damage to the framing once the old window is removed.

The 90's saw the replacement of 'tree farm' wood windows with aluminum and later, PVC window frames and sashes. Builders of that time who were still choosing wood windows were making an unfortunate choice.

Marc

[Jim Baird]

Looks like a knife commercial to me.

What brand of knife is it?

I see window and door frame rot all the time. It results from a great many causes.

Mostly weather effect.

[Jerry Simon]

How likely is it that there is decay to the wood structures behind the trim and possible water infiltration and decay to the wall sheathing and wall studs below the windows sills?

Little chance IMHO. I used to raise the same concern numerous times, oddly enough back in the early 1990's when I started. Sellers were asked many times to open up interior walls under areas of rot, and I was hired to evaluate. Zip, zero, nadda wall-cavity damage was ever found.

By the by, compared to what I've seen, the rot you found is pretty innocuous.

[Jerry Simon]

The 90's saw the replacement of 'tree farm' wood windows with aluminum and later, PVC window frames and sashes. Builders of that time who were still choosing wood windows were making an unfortunate choice.

Marc

Must be a regional thing. While we have our share of vinyl-clad windows (mostly crap ones to boot), the better windows in this neck of the woods are still made of wood. (Your mileage may vary. . .)

[resqman]

See that condition every day in Ga. Usually just replace the trim and life is good. Threshold might find some water intrusion in crawl and sill rot.