On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 23:51:15 GMT, "T.L.Miller"
wrote:

Our 17 year old house here in Clearwater, FL has cypress fascia that is
rotting in several places. I recently painted the house several years
ago. A neighbor who recently replaced some of his fascia says he was
told that painted cypress prevents moisture transfer and can cause
rotting. Only should be stained according the experts.

Anyone else hear of this?

It's a common concern, and there is some anecdotal evidence that
cypress painted with oil-based paints on all surfaces tends to rot
where unpainted or stained cypress doesn't. The theory is moisture
stays trapped inside.

Personally, I'd put it down to the cypress itself, since in general
cypress doesn't rot or attract insects to any significant degree.
There are thousands of old Florida homes that used cypress with no
sign of rot in a century or more, but a fair number of 10-20 year old
homes with cypress rot.

Fascia is another issue anyway, if you have water getting trapped
behind it, eventually you'll get rot. If it can properly dry, you'll
likely never get any.

Jeff