Replacing Rake Trim Boards on Gable Ends of House

In previous years I filled the woodpecker holes in the rake boards on my house with epoxy and then painted over the epoxied areas. Learn how to prevent woodpeckers from damaging your house here.

It was a good band aid fix, but I had to do it every year. So this year I finally decided to solve the problem permanently once and for all, by replacing the rake boards on my house.

Replacing Rake Boards on House I decided to replace the wood rake trim boards with vinyl trim boards. This way the bees and woodpeckers would be unable to bore or drill holes into the vinyl rake boards. My decision to replace the rake trim boards has proved a success. At the end of the summer I inspected the replaced rake boards carefully.

To my elation, I observed no damage whatsoever to the rake boards. In addition, I had less of a bee problem around the house during the summer months.

Though I hired a contractor to remove the old rake boards and replace them with the new vinyl ones, I did pre-paint the vinyl rake trim board material to save me the hassle of having to go up on a ladder afterwards and paint them, or alternatively pay an additional small fortune to the contractor to paint them.

I used an acrylic paint and so far it has held up well on the vinyl rake board material. No chipping or peeling.

Cost to Replace Rake Boards

It took only one day to replace the rake boards on my house, at the cost of $2,350. Though a bit pricey, it was well worth the investment.

The Swiss cheese rake boards were really looking ugly. Now, with fresh paint on the house clapboard siding, and the new vinyl rake boards, the house looks brand new again.