I'm so glad I found this thread because I have a similar problem. We just bought our house a month ago. There's a window in the shower, above the tub. The previous owners had sealed the window shut with silicon caulk. I knew the grout would need touching up but this morning I tried opening the window to see how secure it was, and it opened right up. It wasn't even locked let alone sealed. There also is no extractor fan in there (having one installed this month) so now I'm really anxious that the wall is full of water. We can't afford a reno right now. Can anyone recommend the best stop gap solution to limit damage while we save up for a reno?

Hi paintguy, Yes, it could have been too much primer and it sagged. I am a newbie at all of this. Is there a way that I can tell when I've put on too much paint and it would sag? Other than years of experience? :-) Or rather, is there a way that once I've applied a coat of paint, to monitor it and take some step to address the sagging if I see that it's happening? (I'm imagining something like running a toothpick down the groove to get any excess to the bottom, but then my imagination runs out and I don't know what I'd do then.) I was telling a friend of mine about it on the phone and she suggested to simply sand out the grooves to get rid of the 'holes'. Any reason not to do that? Thanks in advance!

Should I remove the drywall returns on the windows? You can if you wish. If done carefully you wont have to do any drywall touch ups as the casing trim should hide where you cut the drywall. Don't forget to use window and door spray foam where you shim out the jambs. Can I use screws on the few areas that need tightened up? Please do before it falls on your head. Reinforce the whole thing. Staples just don't have the strength to hold a ceiling up vs gravity. Same thing if they were standard nails, at minimum they should be threaded nails but screws are better.

So I like the idea of getting rid of the vinyl siding and adding lots of wide white trim boards. Found this pic of doing a two-toned treatment using shakes. Thank goodness they have it in vinyl now. I like the look of the prairie style windows and the dark stain on the deck. I’d get rid of the lattice and do a square lattice but create panels so it is broken up. Since you have a white railing, I would do the frame of the panel white and then either stain the lattice to match you deck and steps or the lower house color. Or just all white but I think that may be too much. Also notice how the panels are lined up with the deck posts.