Doors and Windows - Not sure I understand this...anyone that can explain?

My house is 9 years old. I moved in 5 years ago. I have double-hung wood windows, that all seem to work fine, and actually look beautiful inside - they are a honey color trim that matches all my interior woodwork. 4 years ago my father and I replaced/primed/painted some badly rotten sections of the exterior trim around these windows. Also, at that time, I personally cleaned/sanded/primed/painted my front porch.

Almost 2 years ago, I noticed more rot around the windows, and found a "handyman" type to come do the repairs. I thought he had done a good job. Now, I have noticed yet MORE rot and lots of peeling paint - a couple of windows are really in bad shape. I now think the guy ripped me off frankly. I am in the process of getting estimates, but several people are telling me I should just go ahead and replace the windows. Since I have 10 windows, I know that replacing them will be pretty expensive. One guy already gave me an estimate of $4k. It seems like spending 4 or 5k is outrageous just to eliminate this problem. So I have a couple of questions:

One - I painted my wood porch 4 years ago, and the darn thing still looks fantastic. Should I not expect the same "life" from repaired/painted wood windows?

Two - I don't understand how replacing the *window* affects the trim. Isn't the *window* the inside glass/wood rectangle that sits INSIDE the trim? Isn't it a bigger job than just replacing the *windows*?? I'm not clear on exactly what window replacement entails I guess.

Can anyone help me out with these questions?

In a house that is only 9 years old, and from which you've had rot in the exterior trim for the last 4 years, I'd say you have a water problem of epic proportions.......You can lay a hunk of wood out on the ground and it will usually last longer than that.

Replacement windows are NOT going to solve your problem.....in fact, it may make it worse when they cover the exterior wood with aluminum capping and you now can't see the rot.....

I'd get somebody to start hunting the real problem.

Well, I don't know what on earth the problem would be. These are normal wood windows, some of them are fine, but the ones that are in bad shape...I wonder if they were ever repaired properly in the first place. Would it be correct to say that if a window had a small amount of rot in the exterior trim, and that wood was say, chiseled out, and replaced, or in some cases, "bondoed" (not sure here - that epoxy stuff whatever it is), and if the rot was not ENTIRELY removed...would it not simply keep rotting, under the primer and paint? This is what I think has happened. Does that sound reasonable?

And I don't know how to make sure a repairman does the job properly.

One guy that gave me an estimate, he showed up early (about 1/2 hour) and proceeded to check all the windows and trim himself. He left me an estimate for repairing ONE window and the trim on the side garage door. (Okay - what about the other three that have rot?) He also gave me an estimate for then WRAPPING all the windows. I already know that THIS turkey is NOT getting the job, because he obviously cannot identify rot. How the heck do I get this done properly???

I'm glad you agree about replacement - I did not see how that would fix this problem!

T...Andy is right about hunting down the problem and advising you against capping them over. Great advice as usual.

I'm curious as to which side of your house has the problem - all four sides or just, say - the North side? My problems, just like yours, were on the North side, the shady side, of my NJ home. Within a year or two of professional repair I also had decay and also considered replacements.

As it turned out, these windows of mine did hot have good flashing over the tops, so water got in, and the ever present shade never let them dry out.

I removed the shingles over the windows, nailed the proper sized flashing and reshingled the areas. I stripped, patched, primed, and repainted the windows, and so far, knock wood for luck, no problems.

Could your problem be similar to mine - the flashing?

Yardnut, like 'the King's' windows, you've got something like this going on.....I wasn't kidding when I said you could lay a hunk of wood out in the yard for 5 years and it probably won't rot.....because after it gets wet, it drys......and that's the key.

You're getting water or moisture from somewhere and it's staying damp, causing the rot. I can't tell you where it's coming from, but the results tell me THAT is what is going on.

Patching it, capping it with aluminum ( ala replacement windows) or anything like that are just masking the problem, not fixing it.

How would you go about finding the right type of person to fix this? Window companies only want to replace my windows. And the "handyman" types will do just what I ask them - so I don't feel like they would be a good "detective" for this particular problem. I'm at such a loss as to who does this type of work. I have called several people listed on the BBB website for my area, and so far the 2 people that called me back failed to show up!! Sheesh. This should not be so difficult. *sigh* I swear if I do find someone, I'm gonna marry them. Well, bake them cookies at least.