Why does 50 year old wood (doors, jambs, windows, siding) just seem to keep going and going. When it's finally gone if I replace it with "new" wood the stuff rots in 5 years.

I use PVC jambs and fiber cement siding whenever I can, but many times PVC isn't in the budget and fiber cement won't match the existing stuff.

Is there a place to buy "good wood"? Is there such a thing anymore? The local lumber yards carry the same quality as the box stores as far as I can tell.

I've used both latex and oil primers as well as back priming. I don't use cheap paint. Might make some difference but not much. The old stuff certainly wasn't back primed. Finger jointed trim just blows up in a year no matter what I do.

The eve overhanging the new door isn't any less than the old door either.

Thanks for listening and throw me a bone if you have one.

Very important to have a drainage plane in many applications.

Much of the managed wood is from softwood trees bred to grow as quickly as possible.

This produces larger growth ring spacing and wood that is not as rot resistant as even slow second growth wood.

True old growth wood has very tight annual rings and is denser and stronger than modern fast growth trees produce.

A split jamb is not really required if you make it up from scratch.

Brickeyee,

You're in NoVa, right? Do you know what kind of exterior trim boards (corners, fsscia, etc) they typically use around here, particularly on the multi-unit developments? That stuff also rots like crazy after 8-10 yrs (if not sooner) and I'm just wondering what it is. A couple apt buildings just went up in Bailey's Crossroads with what appears to be the same stuff - can't wait to see how long it lasts.

Finger jointed white pine is the one I replace most of the time.

Often with the cheapest primer and a single coat of cheap paint, sprayed and not back brushed.

The lousy finishing makes it go even faster.
With a good finish it would last a lot longer.

I just replaced some trim on a rental in Arlington.
It was the original trim from the 1950s the house was built with.

The previous owner did little to no exterior maintenance, so there was some rot at the ends of the fascia, and the small pieces wrapping around to the gable.
The rest of the wood remained solid enough to make cutting away just the ends and replacing only about 4 feet on each end worth the effort.

I have a house from the mid 1930s that still has some original trim (where additions did not cause removal).

The older stuff looks better than the newest stuff from the mid 1970s.

Earlier this week I ordered a door, one of the options was a "rot resistant PVC jamb". That caught my attention due to the "resistant" not being "proof". Turns out the option was for the bottom 6" only being PVC. I went for the full monty.