Some of the regulars on these forums might remember me from a decade ago with our nightmare home building story. I learned a tremendous amount from so many people and will be forever grateful. I have since shared what I learned with lots of people.

Now I am back because it is time to make a few repairs and restain (repaint?) our house and I want to make sure we do it right and thought maybe someone here could point me in the right direction.

Our house has Western red cedar siding and the existing finish is solid color latex stain (I don't remember the brand). The windows are Pella's architectural series wood windows with wood mullions (inside and outside).

Because our siding was applied over a rainscreen system it has held up amazingly well and still looks really good.

The windows, however, have not held up as well. They are made of pine and on the West and South sides of the house a few of the windows are starting to show some rot in the lower corners of the brickmolds. I do not believe this is caused by any problems with the window installation but rather by water wicking up into the pine. The brickmold is part of the window itself and is what was nailed through to attach it to the house (the windows do not have a nailing flange).

I believe we should replace the entire piece of brickmold (as opposed to cutting out the rotted portion) but what should we replace it with? What problems should we watch out for knowing that the brickmold is what is responsible for holding the window in place? Are there special concerns for windows that will need both brickmolds replaced, i.e., is the structural integrity compromised once the original brickmold is removed?

What products are the best to be used on the cedar siding and trim? What products are the best for the pine windows?

What are the correct steps to take to repaint/restain a house?

We will have to hire a contractor to do this work since we no longer have the physical abilities to it ourselves, so I want to make sure that nothing is missed.

Thank you!