Window & Door Trim on Cape Cod, MA

How we approach window & door trim on Cape Cod

Exterior trim is what makes a Cape Cod house read as finished: the white corner boards against gray shingles, the window casings, the fascia and soffit at the roofline, the columns on the porch. It is also the first thing to rot. Trim sits at every place where water is trying to get into the wall, and on the Cape it takes salt air, wind-driven rain and sun that strips paint in a few seasons. Most trim failures we see started with a flashing problem, not the wood.

We replace and repair exterior trim with materials that suit the exposure: cellular PVC that never rots and holds paint for years, or primed and back-primed cedar on historic homes where wood is required. We fix the flashing and drip edges that caused the rot, match existing profiles so the repair is invisible, and fasten with stainless steel so nothing streaks. From a single rotted window sill to a full house of new corner boards, fascia and soffit, the work is done cleanly and finished properly.

Window and door trim fails at the bottom first: the sill rots, the lower casing splits, water gets behind the siding and the sheathing follows. We replace window and door casings, sills, drip caps and brickmold with PVC or cedar, and, more importantly, we install the flashing that should have been there: a sill pan, flashing tape at the jambs and a drip cap at the head. On a Cape Cod home with a dozen or more windows, this is one of the most cost-effective exterior projects there is, because it stops the water problem that ruins everything else.