Entropy and rot are a constant enemy to the homeowner.  There is no perfect prevention, only a delay of the inevitable, and dealing with it when it strikes.  I noticed the corner fascia on my porch  looked a little funny.  A bit of probing revealed a lot of water damage.

This is one of those few situations where an oscillating multitool comes in a lot of handy.  I made plunge cuts far away from the corner to give myself space to install new boards.  Chopping that out with a chisel would have been a chore.

Not great, but only the ends of those boards are rotted.  There is a bit of cross bracing behind those beams to give support for the motion light below, so it should be fine structurally.  I noticed the way the drip flashing was folded allowed for a big hole.  I bet water runs back under via that entry point.  I soaked all the surrounding wood in a few rounds of wood preservative to stop the rot and prevent further damage.

A few custom cut boards made a nice looking miter.  I filled the drip flashing hole with white caulk.  It looks funny, but it should act as a noticeable reminder to pay attention to that area in case the hole opens up again.  Multiple rounds of primer and paint later, and it is back together.  You can definitely tell something happened.  Just the texture of the wood alone is drastically different.  It beats a creeping decay of the roof line though!

While on the subject of things needing painting, the number sign on our mail box was in poor shape.  All the finish was coming off the numbers and the fasteners were getting really rusty.

I wanted to get new ones but the PVC board they were on had faded where the sun was exposed.  Even with a bit of sanding I couldn’t get past it.  They don’t sell this particular style any more, so I wire brushed the old finish off the numbers and gave them a new coat of black paint.

I found stainless steel screws that were close enough to the originals to fit in the numbers.  It ended up being a cheap fix if somewhat time consuming.  Can’t have the mail person judging our letters to be in disrepair!  Oh the joys of homeownership.