My parents had some trimwork done 14 years ago. I noticed that some of
the fabricated columns are showing lines at the butt joints of the
1x6's. Is this to be expected after this length of time, or is there
something the builder could have done to prevent this?

Also, there is some decoration at the top that my father said was
"tacked on". It has cracks in it. I'm wondering if the builder glued
it on and the cross grain expansion caused it to crack?

Thanks for any thoughts.