Thanks Barbara, The windows are new, and because I had storm windows with the old wooden-sash windows before, the window frames were all repainted white (they were a horrid avocado green color, before!). I'm pretty sure it's the siding, because if you look at the corners of the house, there's white staining where the corner piece of the siding ends on both sides. Also, along the top row of vertical bricks, there seems to be a lot of build up. I'm just wondering if there are any plant-safe concoctions that will ease cleaning brick, and what the best way of cleaning brick and siding is. I guess there's always the pressure-washing method, but would I need to use a detergent to get this stuff off? Thanks, Nick

Are you guys referring to the exterior window trim having some sort of wood or insulation under it in order for the window casing to stick out more than the siding? we have wood siding which we plan on keeping. We aren thinking of using pvc trim amd having it painted. Can we install pvc exterior trim without a new construction installation?

Means that you can bring the trim (1x4) over the window slightly and bury some of the frame on the sides behind the trim. You must leave the sill to terminate on the trim for drainage preservation, but you can hide some of the profile of the window on the sides and head.

I should probably have followed up - appreciated the advice here. I was able to pull it out just as described and it turned out OK. My main problem turned out to be that the existing door, and wall in that area, was over 1" out of plumb from top to bottom - that part was a nightmare. But I was able to rip some brick molding and had to build a bit of an extension as well since the original jamb and storm and other bits ended up as a thicker wall. I was even able to keep the top drip edge (I still need to clean up the edge to look nicer). It also turned out the wall studs behind that white trim to the left of the door were rotted at the bottom from water pooling on that step and from chipmunks digging out underneath (no rot from normal weather hitting the door and sill from outside though due to the big overhangs). So I built a form and repoured to fill in the gaps and reform threshold - that part actually came out really well I think. The original was from 1960 and really hadn't rotted anywhere except for the pooling which I addressed, so I think this fix should at least survive me (50).