Let’s Replace the Back Garage Door Water-Damaged Trim!

One of the projects that has been on my Summer Project List for a few of years is painting the trim around the back door to our garage. Over the years, I have repainted this trim several times. The reason was usually because I was changing the color scheme of the deck. Since the garage door is close to the deck, that trim was included in the ‘deck color scheme’. The original trim was white, but it has also been grey, maroon, brown, then teal. I painted it teal in 2017 and have touched up the paint only once since then.

This has been the condition of the bottom of the trim for a few years. The main reason the trim is SO weathered is not our snowy and cold winter season, but our summer season. When the section of grass that is closest to the door gets watered, the sprinkler soaks the trim.

Time to paint the trim

Painting the garage door trim wasn’t a top priority project for me which is why I didn’t do it last summer, or this summer for that matter. At the beginning of the summer, hubby asked if I was going to paint the trim this year. Hmmm….I didn’t want to….but over the summer months, he asked a couple more times. So, reluctantly, I moved it up on the project list…a bit.

Summer ended without my getting around to addressing the trim. In fact, I waited until it was fall when the weather started to cool down. Knowing that my time to paint outside for the year was coming to a close, I FINALLY decided to get it done. Before I could paint, I needed to scrape off the peeling paint. Using a putty knife, I started scraping. The more I scraped, the more I could see just how damaged wood was on the outer pieces of trim.

Step 1 – Remove the outer trim

After assessing the extent of the damage, I decided it would be best to replace the outer section of trim. While the door jamb was also damaged at the bottom, it wasn’t bad enough to go through the work of replacing it. I removed the outer trim. The trim is a true 1″ x 2″ piece. I set it against the 1 x 2 that I had in the garage and was surprised at how much beefier the garage door trim was!

Step 2 – Buying new trim

Step 3 – Cut, Paint, Install

Step 4 – Fix error

I cannot believe the piece was too short. If it weren’t for the white trim, I could have moved the side pieces closer but then the space between the new trim and white trim exposes the wood siding of the house. I REALLY didn’t want to buy another $20+ piece of trim to fix it. Yes, I should have had enough left over from the 8′ length, but I didn’t – I can’t remember why at this point. Hubby said, ‘It’s only $20, just get another piece”. Yes, it’s only $20, but it’s also a trip to town and back, cutting and painting another piece. I could just caulk it, but the space was a bit big for that.

Then hubby suggested I cut a sliver for each side and insert them before caulking. At first, I dismissed that idea knowing what thin slivers I would need to cut with my miter saw. But then I thought, what did I have to lose? If I couldn’t make it work, I’d buy another piece of trim. So, I cut two slivers and inserted them into the spaces. Ya know, they actually fit! Since I was going to be caulking, I knew I’d paint them teal, but we even liked how they looked when white. The pieces looked intentional.

Step 5 – Sand & paint door jamb

I worked on the door jamb after I removed the outer trim. Using my orbital sander, I smoothed the scraped paint. Then I applied two coats of teal paint using a paintbrush.

Step 6 – Cover damage on door jamb

Step 7 – Fix gutter downspout siding

While working on the trim, I decided it was a good time to fix the siding by the gutter downspout. I don’t know how many years it has been this way. When the downspout pulled away from the siding, I didn’t think I could repair it. Now that I was nose to nose with it, I thought I should at least try. All it took was moving it back under the siding & adding a couple of screws. Voila! Fixed!

Before, During, After

Replacing this trim really didn’t take that much time or effort. Just think of how little time it would have taken to just paint it? If I hadn’t postponed this project for a few years, and added a protective coat of paint each year, I would have saved both time and money. Note to self – do not postpone outdoor upkeep!

SO much better!

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