Why Are My Weatherboards Rotting?

Rotting weatherboards are one of the most common problems we see across Melbourne, and the cause is almost always the same: moisture that has nowhere to go.

Timber rot needs water and time. When paint fails, flashings are missing, or boards sit too close to the ground, moisture soaks into the timber and stays there. Add Melbourne's four-seasons-in-a-day weather and the cycle of wet and dry accelerates the breakdown.

Once rot sets in it spreads. A soft board is a sign the moisture has already been there a while, and often the framing behind it has taken damage too. That is why patching over the surface rarely holds.

The lasting fix is to remove the affected cladding, deal with the moisture source, upgrade the flashing and wrapping, and reclad with a material built to resist it. Do that and you should not have to think about rot again in your lifetime.