# Rotten Wood Repair in Decatur, GA

> A soft sill on a century-old bungalow is not a death sentence for the window. **We cut the decay out to sound wood, mill an exact copy of the original piece, and splice it in — from $375.** The antique profile survives. No filler. No shortcuts.

**From $375 · 4.9 · 473+ reviews**

## Decatur's Bungalows Were Built to Last a Century. The Century Is Up

The streetcar-suburb blocks of Oakhurst, Winnona Park and the MAK district went up between the 1910s and the 1940s in old-growth heart pine — wood so dense and resin-rich that nothing sold in a lumberyard today can touch it. It has carried those sills and sashes for a hundred years. But Decatur's glory is also its slow enemy: the same old-growth oak canopy that shades the whole city keeps rain-soaked frames from ever fully drying. A sill under deep shade might stay damp for days after a summer storm, and wherever the paint film cracked a decade ago, water has been working the grain ever since. The result shows up as flaking paint at the sill nose, a sash corner that crumbles under a fingertip, a drip cap gone spongy — decay that is real, but almost never fatal.
- Paint lifting or checking along the sill's outer edge
- Corners and sash rails that give under a screwdriver tip
- Deep-shade elevations rot years ahead of sunny ones
- Clogged gutters and splash-back — the quiet accelerants

## We Don't Patch Antiques — We Remove the Decay and Rebuild the Piece

There are two ways to lose a historic window. One is the replacement contractor who condemns it outright. The other is quieter: a smear of filler over soft wood and fresh paint on top, which hides the decay while it keeps spreading — the patch pops within a couple of seasons and the rot has eaten deeper on your dime. Our method is surgical instead. We probe until we find honest, sound wood; everything soft comes out with clean, square cuts. Then the bench takes over: a replacement piece is milled from laminated lumber to reproduce the original profile — the sill's slope and nose, the ogee on the stool, the drip kerf underneath — and spliced into the old fabric so tightly that primer and paint erase the seam. On an Oakhurst bungalow that means the window your house was born with keeps its face. In Decatur's historic districts it also means in-kind repair — same look, same lines — which is precisely what preservation-minded review wants to see.
- Window sills and sashes rebuilt in real wood — from $375
- Door frames, thresholds and brickmould — from $475
- Original profiles reproduced: slopes, ogees, drip kerfs
- The water source gets named and fixed, not just the wood

## How Rotten Wood Repair Works in Decatur

Probe honestly, price in writing, mill the copy, splice it in — preservation carpentry on a schedule.
- **Map the Decay** — We probe every suspect sill, sash and casing to the true boundary of sound wood — under paint, into joinery, along the horns — so the quote covers reality, not hope.
- **Price Every Piece in Writing** — Window wood from $375, door wood from $475, each element its own line on the written sheet — agreed before a single cut is made.
- **Mill the Exact Copy & Splice** — The replacement is fabricated from laminated lumber to the original profile and joined into the sound fabric with tight, square seams.
- **Seal, Paint & Warranty** — Primed on every face, painted, caulked watertight, and the drainage details corrected — covered by a written 5-year workmanship warranty.

## How Much Does Rotten Wood Repair Cost in Decatur?

Rot repair in Decatur is priced by the piece from a printed catalog — the number goes on paper before the saw comes out:
- **Window sill or sash** — decay removed, real wood spliced in, from $375
- **Door frame wood** — from $475 · **door sash** — from $575
- **Casings, brickmould and porch profiles** — quoted per assessment
- **For scale** — a comparable new wood window runs ~$2,000 installed, and an antique profile can't be bought at any price

## Why Decatur Homeowners Choose WowFix
- **Backed by a Warranty** — Every repair comes with a written workmanship warranty. If it's not right, we come back and make it right.
- **Repair, Not Replace** — We fix the part that failed — glass, seal, sash or hardware — so you keep your windows and skip full-replacement cost.
- **Our Own Technicians** — Your repair is done by our own technicians, never subcontracted — visits run on scheduled routes with a firm appointment date.
- **Upfront, Honest Pricing** — A clear quote before any work starts. No hidden fees, no upsells, no pressure to replace what we can repair.

## Rotten Wood Repair in Decatur — FAQ

**Q: Our 1925 Winnona Park bungalow has a sill going soft. Everyone says 'replace the window.' Do we have to?**

A: Almost certainly not. A soft sill is one decayed component in a window whose remaining fabric — old-growth heart pine — is usually still stronger than new lumber. We cut the decayed section out to sound wood, mill a copy of the original sill with its exact slope, nose and drip kerf, and splice it in. The window your house was built with stays; the from-$375 repair replaces only what actually died.

**Q: We're in a Decatur historic district. Does repairing rot create a review problem?**

A: It's the opposite — in-kind repair is the friendliest path there is. Because we reproduce the existing profile in real wood rather than swapping in a different-looking replacement unit, the street-facing appearance doesn't change, which is exactly what preservation-minded review is protecting. You keep the historic fabric and skip the whole argument a replacement window can start.

**Q: Why is the rot always on the side of the house the oaks shade?**

A: Because rot is a moisture clock, and shade stops the clock from resetting. After a storm, a sunny elevation dries in hours; a sill under Decatur's oak canopy can stay damp into the next rain. Give wood enough consecutive wet days and decay fungi take over. We rebuild the wood and also point out what's feeding it — a failed drip cap, a tired caulk joint, a gutter dumping splash-back at the foundation line.

**Q: A handyman quoted us epoxy filler for half the price. What's the catch?**

A: The catch is that filler over active decay is a cosmetic, not a repair — it seals rot inside the wood, where it keeps consuming the grain under the paint until the patch lets go. We don't offer that option. Decay gets physically removed to sound wood and real wood gets spliced in; that's the version that's still solid when the warranty expires, and it's why ours is written for 5 years.

**Q: Can you save the original wavy glass while rebuilding a rotted sash?**

A: Yes — and we treat it as non-negotiable. Antique cylinder glass with its ripples and seeds is irreplaceable; when a sash comes to the bench for a rot splice, intact original panes are carefully cut out of the glazing, set aside, and re-bedded in fresh putty when the rebuilt sash goes back together. The wood gets renewed; the hundred-year-old view through it doesn't change.

**Q: We're prepping the house for market. Is rot repair worth it before the inspection?**

A: Strongly yes. 'Wood decay at sills' is one of the most-flagged items on intown Decatur inspection reports, and buyers read it as a symptom of worse hidden damage — the negotiation discount runs far past the actual fix. A from-$375 rebuild with a written warranty converts that fear into a one-line receipt, and in this market, an intact original window is a selling point in itself.

## Serving Decatur & Metro Atlanta

We rebuild decayed wood across Decatur — the heart-pine sills of Oakhurst and Winnona Park, the Wilburn-era bungalows of the MAK district, the midcentury ranches toward Great Lakes — and throughout the metro on scheduled routes.

In Decatur: Oakhurst, Winnona Park, MAK Historic District, Great Lakes, Lenox Place, Decatur Heights, Glennwood Estates, Chelsea Heights
Also in Decatur: Foggy Windows — Decatur, Window Repair — Decatur, Glass Repair — Decatur, Atlanta Metro Hub, WowFix in Georgia

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