What’s included
- Window sills and sashes consolidated and filled with two-part epoxy
- Bottom of exterior door jambs and casing cut out and spliced
- Wood thresholds and stops replaced
- Porch and garden trim boards swapped with matching profiles
- Gate frames and pickets repaired or replaced
- Primer, caulk and paint on every repair
What we don’t do
- New fences, decks or block walls built from the ground up.
- Roofs, high eaves and anything above safe ladder reach.
- Concrete pours and tree work.
In Alhambra homes
About 77 percent of Alhambra’s homes were built before 1980, according to a city housing report, and many Craftsman and Spanish Revival houses here still have their original wood windows and door casings. That old wood is dense and worth keeping, so we repair in place wherever the damage is shallow.
Get a quote in one text
Push a screwdriver into the soft spot and send a close photo, plus a wider shot of the window or door. Our number for photos is (310) 628-9399, and the price comes back before any work is booked.
Where rot starts
End grain at the bottom of jambs, flat sills that hold water, and trim behind planters or sprinkler heads. Moisture that never dries out is what lets decay fungi grow.
Epoxy or new wood
Shallow rot is removed, the remaining wood is hardened with a liquid consolidant, and a shapeable epoxy filler rebuilds the shape. Deeper rot gets a new piece of wood glued and fastened in.
Matching old profiles
Older casings and sills have profiles you won’t find at the lumber yard. We shape new pieces to match, or splice in salvaged trim.
Stopping the water
After the repair we look at why it rotted: a sprinkler angle, a missing drip cap, cracked caulk. Fixing the cause keeps the repair sound.
When it’s structural
Rot in posts or beams that hold up a porch roof, in floor joists, or with termite signs goes to a carpenter or pest inspector first.
Check the gutter above it
When a sill or door head keeps rotting in the same spot, look up. A gutter seam that drips or a run that sags and overflows can soak the same trim every storm. We can reseal and rehang the gutter and reattach the downspout on the same visit; fascia boards and roof work are handed to a roofer.
In older Alhambra houses this job often turns up next to fence staining and sealing, weatherstripping and door sweeps, fence and gate repair, paint touch-ups and deck board repair, so mention those when you text and we can price them together.
Sources: City of Alhambra, housing needs report (age of housing stock).
Wood rot repair questions from Alhambra homeowners
How can I tell if my window sill is rotten?
Press an awl into it. Sound wood resists; rotted wood is soft, stringy or crumbles. Peeling paint in one spot is a common early sign.
Is it better to repair or replace rotted trim?
Repair if the damage is shallow and the profile is hard to match; replace if the rot goes most of the way through.
How much does wood rot repair cost?
It depends on how much wood is affected and where. Text photos for a free estimate before anything is booked.
Repair guides for this job
- Reading the cracks in a 1920s Alhambra plaster wallWhy plaster cracks in Alhambra's 1920s Spanish and Mediterranean homes, which cracks are cosmetic, how we patch them, and when to text us a photo.
- Touch-up painting that actually blends in on old wallsHow we touch up scuffs, patches and chipped trim in older Alhambra homes so they blend in with the color, sheen and texture around them.
- Five-minute checks before you call usFive-minute checks for dead outlets, a running toilet, a leak under the sink and a stuck door, so you know what you are dealing with before you call.
- Getting an older house ready for the first rainA fall checklist for older Alhambra houses: doors and windows, caulking, drains, outdoor outlets and the small leaks that turn into big repairs after the first storm.
Looking for a handyman in Alhambra for more than one job? Send the whole list and we’ll price it together.
We serve Alhambra first, plus Monterey Park, San Gabriel and other nearby cities. Have a question? See the handyman FAQ.