Mold/mildew on new house trim

Aphardy_2000

My house is only 16 months old, but only a few months after we moved in, the majority of the 1x2 trim pieces that was used on the soffit, facia, and underneath the porches started to show mold/mildew though the paint. It's only gotten worse since. This is the only material on the exterior of the house that is wood. It's the import finger jointed variety. The m/m gets better, worse, or not at all from piece to piece, and you can see it easily though the white paint.

Seems like the wood was "infected" when I got it. So, what can I do? I've sprayed an area with a bleach/m/m concoction, and it only helped somewhat. I just dread thinking about the time and expense it would take to replace it all. Is there anything I can do to neutralize it and seal it?

Thanks.

jsheridan

Sorry to hear of your plight Aphardy, but welcome to the forum. Unfortunately, short of replacing or stripping the wood to bare and treating the mildew, there's nothing you can do. Mildew is not killed by paint or being trapped behind and it continues to grow under and out throught the finish, which is why you were able to minimze it a bit, but that could have also been new surface mildew growth since install. It's more than likely that the wood came preprimed, and the mildew was under that, which is not uncommon. Secondly, finger joint shouldn't be an exterior product. This may be an issue for your builder to resolve if you still a claim against him. Good Luck.

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Faron79

Uffda!
Sorry you're afflicted with an issue like this since day 1!

What region of the country are you in?
Is your builder kind of the "Low-end" type?
What actual siding is on the home?
Is the m/m present on all sides of home?

One strategy COULD be to replace one side worth of this trim per year.

The IDEAL method, unfortunately, is to replace the original crap. "Sealing" m/m in is rarely a 100% thing....

When replacing the pieces, prime ALL surfaces b4 installation...INCLUDING any end-cuts.
* Also, make sure the surfaces you're installing on are cleaned/dry/caulked/primed too.
* Use a top-notch exterior Oil primer, ideally one that requires 24 hrs. to dry b4 recoating/painting.

Faron