Hi, I am going to replace the masonite crap, oops masonite siding that is rottening on my house taking it off and installing premium vinyl (the one with the insulation attached in the back). The building code and manufacturer instructions say I need to install sheathing board (plywood or OSB) and weather barrier (tyvec) behind the siding which I plan to do as well. My question is: How do I flash around the old windows when I install the plywood/OSB and tyvek? All the instructions for window flashing I have seen describe a frame, then sheathing then flashing/window/weather barrier type of new construction installation. Do I have to take the old windows off and reinstall with new flashing over the plywood/OSB? If I do this I will need to build out the interior trim since the window will be pulled out the thickness of the sheathing. If I don't pull them out and I bring the sheathing/weather barrier to butt against the window frame, How do I flash it before I install the outside trim around the window and cap it? Also any comments on the "Never Rot" PVC trim material? seems like a good alternative to wood that will eventually rot around the window. Thanks for your help. Al

Although this wasn't a do-it-yourself project, I need some advice. I recently paid someone to replace a timber retaining wall which had rotted. The wall was 3.5 ft. tall and 27 ft. long and had an adjoining smaller and shorter section that went back at a right angle (both walls supporting the same section of fill dirt). The original wall had dead men. (I chose to go with timber rather than stone because of several other similar walls on the property.) Although the contractor priced the job using dead men on the 27 ft. wall, he "consulted with an expert" (after seeing the difficulty of putting them in) and reported that they would not be necessary! He also used boulders instead of timber where the original adjacent wall had been, which he assured me would help secure the adjoining wall. After the job was completed (without dead men), I realized he had built the new wall about 7 inches back from the original wall rather than in the original place up against the settled fill dirt. It rained heavily, and three days after the job was completed the wall had moved significantly away from the fill dirt. The contractor wants to "make it right" and "has some ideas" which I haven't yet heard but I feel sure will involve using this poorly constructed wall. Can you give me any input as to how the existing wall might be salvaged or whether the project needs to be started over? Is there any way other than dead men to secure such a wall; i.e., concrete footing, etc. I feel the project needs to be started over from scratch, but I need some authoritative advice to convince the contractor! Thank you ***Moderator's Note: Duplicate thread created in Landscaping has been deleted***