Daderini-thanks for info. I'll be using half-gutters and you seem to understand my dilemma with the soffit and fascia. I found a nice composite wood soffit that Georgia Pacific makes that comes in 16 foot lengths and seems like it would hold paint pretty well so that seems to be the best I can ask for regarding the soffit. As far as the fascia and cornices', I agree that the AZEK will stand out next to wood, so trying to mix is probably a bad idea. I did see a website that used AZEK to construct the return cornices and it looked pretty good, so it is an option. I haven't priced out the AZEK against the aluminum which was originally in the specs and part of the current budget. I think if it prices out reasonably close its feasible that I could use AZEK for fascia, return cornices and the remainder of the roof trim (frieze, crown, and I think a peice of stock). I'm even willing to simplify the trim a little bit as I its a tad too fancy for me, probably just changing or removing the 2 peices crown would be closer to what I like. The paint color is the same for all the exterior trim. I will be painting my own house, people seemed shocked when I tell them I'm choosing wood over vinyl(but I cant stand vinyl). I'm still young and follow a good peice of advice I was told: "Take the time to paint just ONE side of the house every year, by the time you get all the way around, it'll be time to start over again, but the idea of painting the house won't seem so daunting and overwhelming."

Well, Brickeyee - what would you do? Replace the entire window, frame and all? Basically we only need new sills and brickmold. The windows are probably okay for another 10 years if we stay on them with paint and TLC. I thought we'd be doing a good thing to replace the sash. What do you think of pvc sills? Every single window contractor has a different recommendation. This is giving me a huge headache. The current windows are 20+ year old wood builder-grade windows. The sills are rotting and need to be replaced. We are in the boonies. Marvin Infinity (fiberglass) is not sold in this area...We've looked at regular Marvin Integrity, Kolbe Ultras, Pella fiberglass, Anderson, Lincoln, Jeldwen, and Sun. All have sash replacement kits...and it seems that is what we need to go with as opposed the the whole window and frame which would require a major tear out. Suggestions?

@dottt1, they call it APC, its in the family of cellular PVC with some secret sauce mixed in as I understand it. No wood component, but stronger than vinyl, welded unlike fiberglass, and solid lineals without chambers. Great window. On the air sealing and birds, I'd agree with Todd on all points. If the home was built in the last 25 years, there was a time where they were being sealed up pretty tightly without adequate ventilation causing indoor air quality issues. The remedy however is not to get leaky windows or leave areas unsealed, but to have systems in place for that to be controlled and dialed in to balance air leakage (energy efficiency) with air exchange (air quality). An energy auditor or home performance consultant would be the go to if you ever wanted to explore that.

Okay I feel better about it. I've lurked a long time on this forum and I felt I could get a straight answer to my concern. Thanks HomeSealed