The most honest thing we can tell a Bellingham homeowner before a re-side is this: we don't know what's behind your old siding until we open it up. On homes from the 60s through the 90s, the rot behind the cladding is the norm, not the exception, and pretending otherwise is how people end up with surprise bills. Here's what we actually find when we pull old siding off, and how we handle it so there are no surprises.
Why rot is the norm here.
Two things stack up in Bellingham. First, the climate: about 35 inches of rain a year and long damp stretches mean walls take a lot of water. Second, the siding that went on a lot of homes from the 60s through the 90s, direct-applied T1-11 plywood, pressed-wood hardboard (often called Masonite), and face-nailed cedar, was nailed flat to the sheathing with no rainscreen gap. That combination traps moisture against the wall for decades. The siding holds the water in, the climate keeps it wet, and the sheathing and framing behind it slowly rot.
What we actually find.
When we tear the old siding off, the common discoveries are:
- Soft OSB or plywood sheathing. The wall panel itself has gone spongy and dark, especially low on the wall and below windows.
- Black, stained sheathing. Long-term moisture leaves the sheathing black and sometimes growing mold.
- Damaged framing. The studs and the bottom plate, the horizontal framing member at the base of the wall, can be rotted where water pooled.
- Rot around windows. Bad or missing window head flashing lets water in above the window, and the framing around the opening is a frequent casualty.
- Failed or missing weather barrier. Old house-wrap that's torn, improperly lapped, or never there to begin with.
- Pest damage. Wet wood attracts carpenter ants and other pests, and we sometimes find their work too.
How we handle it: no surprise bills.
This is the part that matters, because rot is where re-sides go wrong for homeowners. Our process is built so you're never surprised:
- We open the wall during tear-off and look at the sheathing and framing.
- When we find something soft or damaged, we stop and photograph it.
- We show you the photos and explain what it is and how far it runs.
- We write a separate change order with the repair cost, and you approve it before we do the work.
- Only then do we repair the sheathing and framing and move on.
You see the wall before we close it back up. That way the rot repair is a known, approved cost, not a line that appears on the final invoice. The siding cost guide suggests budgeting a $1,500 to $6,000 contingency for rot on an older home so it's planned for.
The rot isn't the problem. Finding it after the wall is closed and the check is cashed is the problem. We do it the other way around.
Why a rainscreen stops it from coming back.
Fixing the rot is only half the job. If we put new siding back on the same way, direct-applied with no gap, the wall would just start trapping moisture again. That's why we re-side on a rainscreen: a vented gap that lets the new wall drain and dry, so the rot doesn't return. Paired with a fresh weather barrier and proper window and kick-out flashing, it fixes the cause, not just the symptom. Our guide on whether you need a rainscreen explains the why in more depth.
Can you find it before tear-off?
Sometimes there are clues, soft spots, interior stains, bubbling siding, the signs that siding is failing. Those tell us rot is likely. But the full extent only shows when the siding comes off, which is why an honest contractor quotes the re-side and the rot separately, with the rot handled as you go. Anyone who promises a fixed all-in number sight-unseen on a 1970s T1-11 house is either padding the price heavily or planning to cut a corner.
For a free walkthrough and an honest look at your walls, Bellingham Siding Co. handles siding and rot repair and full re-sides on a rainscreen across Bellingham and Whatcom County.