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Hire expert to find why wood siding is going bad

By Glenn Haege

Q. While clearing the leaves from the gutters of my newly purchased house, I noticed a piece of wood siding had rotted. It sits on the side of the roof covering the porch and has less of a pitch than the main roof. The piece has totally rotted away, and there is a gap between the boards along the base of the roof that could allow water into the area of the roof covering the porch. If it gets worse, water could get into a bedroom.

What is your advice? Should my wife and I tackle the job ourselves?

A. You need a professional because it is necessary to learn why the rot appeared and solve that problem as well as replace the rotted wood. It is important to have this problem fixed before winter.

Glenn Haege writes for the Detroit News. Reach him at editor@flashcom.net, or visit www.masterhandyman.com.