Hi everyone,

We have been trying to figure out the best solution to a problem we are having with trim/siding rot for a long time and wanted to see if we could get some help with folks’ advice. Thanks a lot in advance!

Our house has a small extension that is not covered by gutters, and there is one corner of the extension where we are seeing some corner trim/siding rot, likely from water splashing up from the deck when it rains. The third picture shows a closeup of the issue where the white side trim is rotting away (also soft to touch), and the lowest piece of siding appears to be soft and warped as well. There are gutters on both sides of the original house behind the extension, but the extensions itself doesn’t have any gutters. The extension is asymetrical and the side with the rot has a longer length of ceiling, and is also a lot more shady than the other side due to position of trees.

When we first saw this issue, our instinct was that we are having a water problem because this extended area has no gutters, so we reached out to a roof/gutter contractor to talk about installing gutters first before fixing the rot. They said that the only place they could run gutters is along the front facade of the extension where the white trim is currently (not along the corner itself because of the position of the windows close to the corners), and they would cut into the deck to drop the gutters below the deck. We had orginally asked them to tie the new gutters into the old gutters on the side (which are connected to underground down spouts), but the contractor suggested not doing that because it would require too many 90 degree angle turns to tie new gutters from the extension parts to the gutters in the back, which would lead to potential clogs due to the amount of trees we have on this property (even though there are gutter screens). He suggested droppint the gutters directly under the deck, where there is gravel next to the foundation, but could not guarantee whether this could lead to foundation issues because we are directing water to an area where there wasn’t water before. He also was frank and suggested that though adding gutters to this extension would help reduce water flowing into that corner, he wasnt sure if it was a necessary project given it‘s a small piece of ceiling carrying water and we’re not sure how long it took for the issue to develop (we just moved in). The extension part extends outward 3 feet and the full length is a little over 10 feet long.

Later, we were chatting with our landscaper about this, and he said that gutters along the fromt facade of the extension would not help with the water issue along the corner, and that home extensions of this size shouldn’t need gutter additiona. He suggested thr real issue was that the corner area wasnt drying because of the shade we have and it would be a problem with gutters or no gutters. He suggested we not install gutters and instead fix the corner rot and also install molding to cover the corner trim and also along the bottom-most piece of siding to protect them from water (i guess kind of along the lines of what is under the french doors, except a different color to look nicer). Or replace the bottom wood siding with vinyl.

We are conflicted because the corner rot appears to be a small problem which we could just go ahead and fix. Of course, we would also like to make an effort to fix the water/moisture issue causing the corner rot because we plan on staying here for a long time, but also want to make sure that we are doing something that makes sense and isn’t potentially causing more issues/headache. We are first time homeowners so don’t really have experience and wanted to see if anyone had any advice on this.

1. Should we install gutters, molding/vinyl, or just fix the issue itself?

2. Do home extensions of this size (extending out 3 ft, with a length of a little over 10 ft) typically require gutters or is it good practice?

3. If we should install gutters, does what the contractor said about not tying the new gutters from the extension to old gutter downspouts because of too many twists and turns make sense, and is it ok to be dumping the water along the gravel under the deck along the home foundation?

4. Any other suggestions on how we should handle this situation?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and any thoughts/advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Am