The wood siding on my townhouse in NC has some spots on the back side that are deteriorating in places, mostly around the windows and doors. There's caulking at the edges of these places, but if you press on it, the wood and also the caulking, it's very soft and pliable. It feels like the wood is rotted. It's not the whole piece of wood siding, just the edges. Can I scrape off the caulking and dig out the softened edges of the siding, fill in with an exterior wood filler to repair the soft places, then re-caulk and paint? Or do I have to replace all the siding? I'd like to do the work myself if at all possible, but I'm an amateur, so I need all the advice I can get.

Hi Diyher,

You cound do the repairs as you stated although your patches are going to be quite visable. Minwax has a product called "Wood Hardener" that you can apply to the soft area and it will turn the soft rotted wood rock hard.The soft/rotted wood must be dry. If possible and space allows you might concider having wider trim installed around doors and windows to avoid residing.

Thanks! I'll look for the Minwax product and see if it will do the job. We've had a lot of rain here this summer, so I'll take your advice and wait until the siding is very dry before trying it.