Fascias and Soffits in Manchester

How the boards fail

Timber takes water in at the end grain and behind the bracket screws, which is exactly where a gutter that has been overflowing puts it. The board goes soft at the fixings first, so the gutter drops a little and takes in more water, and the two faults feed each other from then on. Painted timber lasts while the paint holds and starts going the season after it does not. A gutter that keeps coming loose after rebracketing is telling you about the fascia rather than the bracket, and that is when most people ring us.

Reading it from the pavement and from the loft

From the ground you are looking for three things. Paint flaking along the bottom edge of the fascia, which is water coming out of the board rather than rain landing on it. A green or black bloom on the soffit near a downpipe or a corner. And a fascia gone wavy, which means it is no longer straight enough to hold a gutter straight. The better test is a screwdriver, gently, into the bottom edge at a corner: sound timber stops it, soft timber lets it in like cork. Do that from a ladder footed on the ground, never off the gutter. From inside the loft, look along the eaves on a dry day. A thin line of daylight is normal on older roofs. Daylight through a hole, damp staining on the rafter feet, or timber gone dark over the wall plate is not, and that is worth a phone call.

What happens if it is left

The rot travels inward along the grain, out of the board and into the rafter feet behind it. A fascia is trim. A rafter foot is part of the roof, and once several have gone soft over the wall plate the job stops being joinery and starts involving the covering above. And the guttering keeps failing, because every new bracket is going into wood that will not hold it.

The eaves on the houses round here

The 1930s semis around Swinton, Wardley and Worsley were built with a boxed eaves and a deep bargeboard up each gable, in softwood painted over so many times the paint is thicker than any repair. The gable boards go first: weather from two sides, and nobody can reach them to paint. The Victorian terraces often have no soffit at all. The rafter feet sit on the wall plate behind a shallow fascia, so there is nothing to cap over even if we wanted to. On both, the fault we find most is not rain. It is loft insulation pushed hard into the eaves, blocking the airway. The loft holds moisture, it condenses under the felt, it drips, and it gets reported to us as a roof leak.

Fascias, soffits and bargeboards, done properly

We strip back the old timber, cut out and replace any rotten rafter feet, then fit new ventilated soffit and either a fascia or a bargeboard to match the gable, in white, black, brown, anthracite or rosewood. The vent in the soffit matters more than it looks. Air has to reach the loft at the eaves, and where insulation has been pushed into the airway we pull it back and hold it clear rather than vent over the blockage. Bargeboards are a different job from the eaves boards under the gutter. They sit higher, they carry the verge detail behind them, and on a semi they often run to a neighbour's boundary, which is worth knowing before scaffold goes up. Dave measures the whole roofline into one free written quote.

Capping over, and why we take the boards off

Capping over means leaving the old timber where it is and screwing a uPVC cover board across the front of it. It is quick, it is cheap, from the pavement you cannot tell for about two years, and it is why so many roofline jobs get done twice. The rot does not stop because it has been covered. It carries on behind the cap, and the new gutter is now fixed through plastic into timber that was already failing. When it lets go it takes the cap with it, and the rafter feet have usually gone by then. So we take the boards off and look. If the timber underneath is genuinely sound we will say so and cap it, which is the smaller job of the two. What we will not do is cap over rot and take the money for it.

Birds at the eaves, and what we do not do

A gap where a soffit has rotted or a board has dropped is an open door, and starlings and house sparrows will use it. Renewing the boards closes it, and where a roof has an obvious weak point we can fit eaves and ridge proofing at the same time: comb filler at the ridge and a properly closed eaves detail rather than expanding foam. What we do not do is touch birds or nests. Nesting birds are protected while the nest is in use, so if there is an active nest the proofing waits until the birds have gone. That is the law, and a roofer who offers to sort it out today is telling you something about how he works.

Repair or replace, and what affects the price

There is less of a repair option here than people hope. A dropped soffit panel or one length of bargeboard can be swapped, but once the fascia is soft along a run, replacement is the honest answer, because there is nothing left for a fixing to bite into. What moves the figure is mostly what is behind the board. How many rafter feet have to be cut back and made good is the biggest unknown, and nobody can price it from the pavement, which is why Dave takes a board off before quoting. Then whether the gable bargeboards are in the job, since they are the highest and most awkward boards on the house. Then the depth of the soffit, because a deep overhang takes a wider board and more fixings. Then whether the guttering comes off and goes back, then access, then the finish. The biggest lever is timing. Doing the roofline while scaffold is already up costs far less than putting scaffold up twice, and it is worth asking about even if the boards would have waited.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to replace fascias when reroofing?

Often yes, and it is worth doing while the scaffold is already up. Doing the boards as part of the reroof means you are not paying to put scaffold back up for them later.

My soffits are fine. Do I have to have them done with the fascias?

No. If the soffit is sound we leave it, and plenty of jobs are fascia and gutter only. Dave prices it both ways in a free written quote.

There is a bird nesting in my roof. Can you get it out while you are up there?

No. We do not remove birds or nests at any time of year. While a nest is in use it is protected, so proofing waits until it is empty and the birds have gone, and then we close the gap properly.

Will new boards stop the condensation in my loft?

Only if the airway behind them is clear. Fitting vented soffit over insulation packed into the eaves changes nothing. If the loft has a ventilation problem boards cannot fix, Dave will say so instead of selling you boards.

Will you take the old materials away?

Yes, and it is written into the quote so it is not an extra afterwards.