Wood Siding Repair & Replacement

Usually a section, and that’s most of what I do. If the boards around a window went soft and the rest of the wall is sound, the job is cutting out what’s gone, fixing whatever let the water in, and putting back boards that match. One thing to know since July 1: under Section 101.7 of the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code, once 25% or more of the total exterior wall surface gets replaced, the whole wall surface has to meet the new-construction standard. So the size of the repair can change what the repair is. I’ll tell you where your job sits before we start.

In Garfield County, any permit submitted after July 1, 2026 has to comply, and Garfield removed the state’s exemption for parcels of 35 acres and larger. It is not retroactive — a house that’s standing and untouched is fine. What triggers it is the work: replacing 25% or more of the exterior wall surface, or an addition of 500 square feet or more. Other counties adopt on their own schedule, so I check what applies to your address rather than assuming. And wood is still allowed: the code lists log wall, heavy timber and fire-retardant treated wood labeled for exterior use among the permitted options.

There isn’t one answer and anyone who gives you one is selling something. What actually decides it is how much sun and snow that wall takes, how much maintenance you’re willing to do, and what your property’s wildfire classification allows. Cedar looks the part and handles the weather well but wants to be refinished. Board and batten sheds water well on a tall wall. Fire-retardant treated wood buys you the look and the code compliance together. I’ll tell you what I’d put on your wall and why, and what it’ll ask of you in ten years.

Maintenance and cost. Cedar needs to be refinished on a schedule — more often on the south and west walls, because up here the sun at altitude is as hard on a finish as the snow is. Left alone it won’t rot quickly, but it will gray and check. It also costs more than treated pine. What you get for that is a wall that looks like it belongs on a mountain house and that can be repaired board by board instead of in panels.

A weather-resistive barrier over the sheathing, flashing at every opening and penetration, and ideally a drainage gap so any water that gets past the boards can run out and the back of the wood can dry. That gap is the part that gets skipped, and skipping it is why a wall that looks fine from the street is soft under the window. Whatever is behind the siding is the part that decides how long the siding lasts, and it’s the part you can’t see once the job is done — so it’s worth asking whoever quotes you what they’re putting there.

Too many variables for a number on a web page, and the honest answer is that the first question isn’t cost per square foot — it’s how many square feet actually have to come off. Four boards under a window and a full re-side are different orders of magnitude. What moves it: square footage, whether the sheathing underneath is sound, how many windows and corners the wall has, wall height, material, and whether the scope crosses the 25% line in the county code. The estimate is free and I do it on site.

Spring through fall for a full wall, because the weather barrier and the finish both go on better when it’s dry and not freezing. But a leak doesn’t wait for spring — if water is getting into a wall, every week it sits is more of the sheathing gone. Repairs and dry-in work I’ll do when it needs doing. Call me and I’ll tell you honestly whether yours can wait.

I work in wood — cedar, board and batten, log siding, and fire-retardant treated wood where the code calls for it. If your job needs fiber cement, tell me on the phone and I’ll tell you straight rather than take it and figure it out later.