I recently bought my first house and I noticed some rot happening beside our garage door. It appears that when the cement driveway was poured, they got too close to the siding and now water is wicking up into the wood. I figure I can cut back the siding and replace it but how do I stop this from happening again?
Once it’s rotted, you need to replace. This will also give you the opportunity to look at the wood behind the siding as there’s a good chance that the rot goes deeper.
You never want to have untreated wood touching concrete. Concrete will always wick water and rot the wood. When you replace the siding, leave a 3/8in gap between the wood and concrete. Seal the gap with caulk to keep water out.
I agree, just be careful with the caulk- sometimes you end up sealing liquid (or vapor) water IN instead of out. If you have good overhangs it’s probably fine but don’t do this below a window or other opening.
And for anyone wondering about concrete wicking water, look up ‘capillary break’
I was worried about sealing in water/moisture. I think I’m going to leave it until the rainy season is over and then open it up to see what is behind there. Hopefully the structure is ok.