Replacing Fascias and Soffits: What's Involved?
- Jan 12, 2017
- 3 min read
What are Fascias, Soffits and Bargeboards?
Most people would be aware of the fascias and soffits that are just underneath and around the roof but many don't really know what they are used for and how important they are. We have come across so many cases of botched replacement jobs where the quality of the job has been so poor. This can potentially lead to a problem on a much bigger scale than the original one. Fascias and soffits aren't just there for appearance, they have an essential role to play as regards the health of your roof and we'll explain why.
Fascia
The fascia board is sometimes referred to the 'Roofline' as it is mounted just below the edge of the roof. It is this board that holds your gutter and it's fixed to the lower end of the roof trusses. Not only does it support the guttering but also the bottom row of tiles. As you can imagine, a heavy downpour can add several gallons of water per second compared to normal conditions. Therefore, the fascia has to be of good quality and strong to be able to withstand this extra load.
Bargeboard
A bargeboard is fixed to the gable end of a house and runs from the apex of the roof at the side, towards the front and the back. It can add an additional decorative look to your home too.
Soffit
The soffit can be seen from street level and it is placed under the fascia. Building regulations state that there must be adequate ventilation in the roof area and this can either be incorporated into the soffit or over the top of the fascia board. Without proper ventilation there is a real chance of condensation forming in the roof space and this trapped moisture can cause the wood to rot.
Boxend
The boxend is at the gable and fitted between where the fascia, soffit and bargeboards meet. It has to be cut exactly to accommodate the different angles, planes and heights of each one of the boards.
What does Replacing the Soffits and Fascias Involve?
The complete solution to damaged Soffits and Fascias is to replace them fully. A straightforward project would involve simply removing the existing Soffits and Fascias along with their component parts. However depending on the health of the timber, such as the rafters, it can also require needing this to be replaced with new and treated wood.
Any good roofing specialist will inspect your roof to ensure there aren't any signs of deterioration elsewhere. It is still surprising the number of call-outs we receive where we encounter this issue. When we investigate it becomes apparent very quickly that a so-called Roofing professional has fitted a low quality lightweight upvc fascia and/or completed an extremely sub-standard job. Not only that but that Soffits and Fascias have been incorrectly replaced over clearly decaying wood or felt that is not fit for purpose. Rather than providing a solution, it is creating more harm for example by not allowing the wood to dry. The dampness subsequently is the primary cause of rotting rafters and timber.
What We Do When We're Replacing Soffits and Fascias
1. Set up scaffolding - we hold an industry license for this.
2. Guttering is removed and the first row of tiles are pushed back to reveal the felt.
3. New felt that is in good condition will direct any rain that gets past the tiles and send it to the gutter. Very often however it sags behind the fascia. In addition, there is generally a lack of tilting fillets on most roofs. Both these scenarios can make the roof much less effective at diverting rain water.
4. The rafters are exposed by removing the Soffits and Fascias.
5. Provided other timber is in good condition, a solid vented Soffit is fitted to the bottom of the rafters and a new, solid fascia board is also applied.
6. After this, the roofing felt is trimmed and a plastic or aluminium guard is fitted below the felt and over the top of the fascia to allow water to run away from the eaves and into the guttering system.
7. Lastly, the roof tiles are put back on again as is the guttering and that's it, job done correctly!
If you would like more information on replacing your Soffits and Fascias or would like to book a FREE consultation to have a roof review completed please contact us on 087 923 3663 or email iymbuilder@gmail.com 'I'm Yer Man: Building and Roofing Specialist' has over 30years experience providing roofing solutions projects. See more at Roof Replacements and Repairs and read what our clients say about our work.
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