Why does newly installed exterior trim look bad so quickly?
Exterior trim can start looking worn or develop gaps between rake boards shortly after replacement, leaving homeowners wondering if it indicates a serious defect or just normal expansion and contraction. Cleaning the material with soapy water often proves difficult and makes little difference in improving its appearance.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Trying to clean the trim with soapy waterDid this help you?
- 2Applying caulk and paintDid this help you?
- 3Covering the gaps with custom wooden medallions, squares, or battensDid this help you?
- 4Using wood puttyDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I walked around the house today and I noticed there are gaps between where rake boards meet. Is this something that’s needs to be fixed asap or it is normal contraction and expansion?”source ↗
“The second photo around the window next to my front door will be significantly harder to replace the trim, I believe it’s built into the windows and not sure I can do that myself. Is the proper repair here to strip/repaint?”source ↗
“Should I strip/repaint the back too or replace that trim?”source ↗
“Recently replaced 22 windows in my home for around $24k. In general they have been great but Im starting to notice that the outside trim work (that was also redone) looks to be on bad shape.”source ↗
“I believe it’s only cosmetic, as they replaced the trim with PVC, but Im annoyed tat already looks so bad.”source ↗
“I’ve tried cleaning it with soapy water but its pretty difficult and doesn’t make much difference.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Why won't loose interior trim pieces stay snapped in place?
- 7How to fix loose metal roof trim that won't stay in
- 14New paint peeling off trim
- 6Can a damaged plastic bumper cover be repaired with heat?
- 2How to fix a flat exterior window sill that pools water
- 18How to fix a poorly installed floor transition strip