Porch columns, stair stringers, sills, lap siding and the eave boards over a plugged gutter replaced with sound wood on Nashville's porch-front houses. Written price before we start.
BBBAccredited BusinessNashville is a porch town built over crawl spaces, and that is where its wood rots: the column standing on a damp porch floor, the stringer under the front steps, the sill plate sitting a foot above wet dirt, the bottom course of siding behind the boxwoods, and the eave board above a gutter nobody has cleared since the maples dropped. Kaminskiy Care and Repair takes the rotted wood out, replaces it with sound wood to the same profile, primes it on every face, paints it to the house and seals it, and deals with what caused it, the gutter, the grade or the crawl space vent, on the same trip. Where the eastern subterranean termite has eaten the sill or the joist ends, a licensed pest company treats first and we rebuild after. The price is in writing before the work starts.
Eight repairs, one crew, priced in writing before we start.
A Nashville porch floor stays damp from May to September, the crawl space under it never dries, the maples fill the gutters by Thanksgiving, and the termites in the yard find the sill plate. We take the soft wood out to solid, put it back to the old profile, prime and paint it, and fix the water.
AFTERBEFORE
Fascia & Eaves
Window Sills
Door Jambs & Casings
Trim & Siding
Termite Damage Rebuilds
Deck Boards & Railings
Stairs & Posts
Primed, Painted & SealedIn this climate the soft spot is bigger by fall than it was in spring. A photo gets a Kaminskiy-certified technician's price on a column, a sill or a siding run, in writing, on the call; a porch rebuild or termite damage in the crawl space is looked at first, then scoped.
Priced and on the calendar during the first call.
A written quote you approve before anyone drives out.
One crew, truck stocked, warranty in writing.
A one-year workmanship warranty, in writing, on every Nashville rot and termite damage repair.
Most Nashville houses built before 1980 stand on a crawl space, and most have a porch. The crawl space stays damp all summer and keeps the sill plate, the band joist and the porch framing wet from below; the porch floor holds water against the column bases; the gutters fill with maple leaves and pour over the eave board; and fifty inches of rain a year keeps everything topped up. The rot is at the bottom of the column, the bottom of the siding and the top of the gutter, and that is where we look.
The eastern subterranean termite is in every Nashville yard. It comes up the foundation or a crawl space pier in a mud tube, finds the sill plate and the joist ends where the crawl space is damp, and swarms in the spring. A licensed pest company treats the colony and writes the WDIR. We rebuild the sill, the joist ends we can reach and the porch framing, after they are done.
A porch column that is soft at the bottom is usually sound above it. We cut the column back to solid wood, build a new base to the original profile on a sealed, raised footing so it is not standing in water, and paint it to match. A column rotted through is replaced, and we say which before we start.
Clear the gutters when the maples drop and again in spring. Get the downspouts six feet from the foundation. Cut the shrubs back from the siding so air moves. Keep mulch below the siding line. Vent or seal the crawl space and put a vapor barrier on the dirt. A dry crawl space is the single thing that stops the sill from rotting again.
Bungalows, cottages and Victorians of the 1890s to 1930s with full porches, lap siding, wood windows and crawl spaces, many under historic or conservation zoning. The column base, the step stringer and the sill plate are where it goes, and the overlay wants the profile put back exactly, which is how we do it anyway.
Ranches and split-levels of the 1950s to 1980s in brick with wood eave boards, soffits, trim and screened porches, under big trees. The damage is in the eave board over a leaf-packed gutter, the soffit at the corner, and the screened porch posts standing on a damp slab. We replace the boards, blend the color and clear the gutter.
Newer houses with brick or fiber-cement fronts and wood where it shows: the fascia, the porch columns, the trim and above all the decks on the hillside lots. Deck boards soften at the ends, railing posts rot where water pools at the base, and the association wants an exact color, which we take from a chip.
A fascia board, a sill or a trim piece is priced on the call, in writing. A bigger rebuild gets a look first and a written price before anything starts.
We cut back to sound wood and probe how far the rot really goes. If it runs further than the photo showed, you hear it before we go further, with the price.
New wood primed on all sides, caulked, painted to match, and the water path that caused it fixed: the drip edge, the flashing, the gutter end, the sprinkler.
The work area is cleaned before we leave, and every rot repair carries our one-year workmanship warranty.
Metro Codes publishes a long list of what does and does not need a permit, and it reads tightly: fascia and soffit replacement, decks, railings, siding repair over 100 square feet, and carpentry that replaces any structural element, a joist, a rafter or a stud, are permit work; painting, a door in the same opening, gutters and downspouts, and minor brick repair are not. A sill or a small run of siding is the no-permit end; a fascia run, a porch rebuild or rot in framing is permit work, and we pull it when the job needs it and tell you on the call.
A Tennessee sale usually comes with a Wood Destroying Insect Report from a chartered pest control company under a licensed operator, which the Department of Agriculture ties to real estate transfers and backs with a ninety-day accuracy warranty. It reports visible evidence of active or previous infestation and the conditions that invite it. The pest company treats and clears; we rebuild the sills, trim, porch framing and the framing we can reach that the report points to. Send the report with the address and we price from it.
Lockeland Springs, Eastwood, Richland-West End, Belmont-Hillsboro, Germantown and many East Nashville streets sit under the Metro Historic Zoning Commission's overlays, where a preservation permit comes before the Codes permit for exterior work; putting back the same wood to the same profile is the simplest case, and we photograph the original before we cut. The unwritten rule is the crawl space: a rotted Nashville sill is a wet crawl space first, and the vents, the vapor barrier or the drainage belong in the scope with the wood.
Reviewed by Sergei Kaminskiy, founder, November 7, 2026.
Can't find your answer? Call 615-471-6410 and ask us anything.
Call 615-471-6410A column base, a sill or a siding run is priced from a photo and usually on the schedule within the week. Termite damage in the crawl space or a porch rebuild gets walked first and then a written scope. We answer in under three rings.
After a licensed pest company has treated and written the report, yes. We cut out the eaten sill, the band joist and the joist ends we can reach from the crawl space, put sound wood back, and dry the crawl space out so they have no reason to return. Treatment and the WDIR are the pest company's.
The column, the base, the stringer, the sill and the siding, yes: carpentry, which Kaminskiy does licensed, bonded and insured. The beam over the columns is where we stop and talk: if the rot has reached the beam that carries the porch roof, you hear that first, along with who should look at it.
How much wood comes out once we open it, whether it is a sill in the crawl space or fascia two stories up on a hillside lot, and the profile and paint the new piece has to match. Humid wood rots further than it shows, so the number comes from a photo and is confirmed in writing once the board is open.
For fascia and soffit replacement, a deck, a railing, siding repair over 100 square feet or any structural carpentry, yes, on Metro's own list; painting, a same-opening door and gutters, no. In a historic or conservation overlay the preservation permit comes first. We tell you which on the call and pull it when the job needs it.
The pest company treats and clears the infestation; we rebuild the wood the report points to, sills to trim to porch framing, and they reinspect if the buyer wants it. Send us the report and the address and the repairs come back priced, in writing.
All of Nashville and Davidson County, including East Nashville, Germantown, 12 South, Sylvan Park, Green Hills, Donelson and Bellevue, plus Brentwood, Franklin, Hendersonville, Mt. Juliet, Goodlettsville and Nolensville. Call 615-471-6410 to confirm your address.
Tell us where the wood has gone soft, or text a photo, and we call back with a written price and a time. Calling is still faster: 615-471-6410.
Priced in writing before we start, rebuilt to last, warranted in writing.
We answer in under three rings, 24/7.No price games. You get a clear written quote before any work begins, backed by our workmanship warranty.
