Hello all,

My house has a wrap-around deck on 2 sides. The board-and-batten siding is beginning to rot in some places where the deck meets the exterior wall. I've uploaded some photos here. It appears that water is seeping down between the ledger and the siding and has no where else to go. Fortunately the water doesn't appear to be penetrating the building paper and the plywood behind.

Any ideas on how to prevent any further damage? I've thought about pulling up the first board and putting some flashing behind the siding; wrapping it over the ledger (there's no flashing at all now). Any advice would be welcomed.

Thank you,
Roy

It appears this job was doomed from the start. Like many decks it was added after the home was built. The ledger is not visible in the pics but it must not be nailed to the siding, is it? The siding should stop above the deck not behind it. I would remove at least the first deck board to give me room to work. Tear off the entire wall of siding and start with new Tyvek, flashing at the ledger, new siding that stops just above the deck so they do not touch. You are getting water trapped where the siding and the deck touch, big no-no.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

... it must not be nailed to the siding, is it?

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Yes, exactly. It is. Here is a photo from beneath and another from above after a deck board was removed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

...Tear off the entire wall of siding and start with new ....

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Heh, I was afraid you might say that. This is shaping up to be a big project and I'm already in the middle of a kitchen remodel (was removing a window when I found this)... oh well.

Thanks for the reply!
Cheers,
Roy

Looks can sometimes be deceiving but it appears the ledger board was applied right over the siding. This, in all likelihood is the biggest cause of the rot. When Installing a ledger on an existing building the siding should be removed, ledger mounted, stepped flashing installed and then the decking. It already rotted to the point where you need to do a big tear out so I'd finish the kitchen, if your wife is like mine it's the smart thing to do. Weather should be OK for many more weeks or you can wait until Spring.

Thanks! Sorry I couldn't rate your answer, it said "You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to ballengerb1 again." Meh. Anyway, thanks for the great answer!