Ely Roofers carries out fascia, soffit and guttering replacement for homes in Sutton, from the first inspection through to clean-up, with no shortcuts at any stage of the job.
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Replacing fascias, soffits and guttering is a roofline job, not a cosmetic one. The boards and gutters protect the top of your walls and the ends of your roof timbers from rain and frost. When they fail, water tracks into places it cannot escape from, and rot follows. A properly done replacement deals with any damage found along the way and leaves the roofline in better condition than a like-for-like swap.
Below is a clear account of how the job runs from start to finish. If you are deciding whether to go ahead, this should tell you what to expect and what to look out for.
Before any price is given or work agreed, the roofline needs to be looked at properly. From the ground it is possible to spot obvious signs - sagging gutters, staining on the wall, peeling paint on fascias, visible gaps at the soffit. But the full picture only becomes clear once someone gets up to roofline height on a ladder or scaffold.
At inspection stage, the key things being assessed are: the condition of the existing fascia timber or uPVC, whether the soffit panels are intact and whether they include ventilation, the state of the gutter joints and brackets, and - critically - the condition of the rafter feet behind the fascia. The rafter feet are the structural timber ends that sit just behind the fascia board. If those are soft or rotten, the repair scope expands. It is far better to know that before work starts than to discover it once the old fascia is off.
A thorough inspection should also check the fall of the existing gutters. A common problem is gutters that were installed level or with the fall running the wrong way, causing water to sit and overflow rather than run to the downpipe. Rehinging in the same position without correcting the fall wastes the cost of the job.
Roofline work is carried out at height, and safe access is not negotiable. We work from scaffold or properly footed and secured ladders, depending on the height of the property and the length of the run being replaced. For a full roofline replacement on a two-storey house, scaffold is generally the right approach - it allows both hands free, materials can be staged on the platform, and multiple sections can be worked on efficiently.
Before stripping the old roofline, the surrounding area is prepared. Any plants, fencing or fragile surfaces below the working elevation are covered or moved where possible. A skip or waste bags are positioned for the old materials. uPVC and timber fascias, old guttering and brackets generate more waste than most homeowners expect.
The gutters and their brackets come off first, working section by section. The soffit panels are removed next, then the fascia boards. Where clips or nails have corroded, this takes more care - forcing corroded fixings can damage the masonry or the tile edge above.
On most properties there will be a course of tiles overhanging the fascia. To remove and replace the fascia correctly, the lowest course of tiles needs to be lifted temporarily so the full board can be pulled clear and the new one fitted flush behind the tile edge. Roofers who try to do the job without disturbing the tiles either leave the old board in place beneath the new one (creating a damp trap) or cut the new board short of the tile edge, leaving a gap where water can get behind. Neither approach is acceptable.
Once the old fascia is off, the rafter feet are exposed and assessed. If any are soft, they are cut back to sound timber and a new treated section is spliced in. This repair must happen before the new fascia goes on - boarding over rotten timber simply delays and worsens the problem.
New fascia boards are fixed directly to the rafter feet, not to the old board or to the masonry. Each board is secured at every rafter foot with appropriate fixings. For uPVC, expansion gaps are left at joints to allow for thermal movement - without these, the boards buckle in summer. For timber, primed cut ends are applied at all joints before fixing.
The fascia profile needs to match the existing roofline where only part of the elevation is being replaced, or to match the style of the house where a full replacement is being done. Modern uPVC fascia comes in a range of widths - typically 100 mm, 150 mm and 175 mm - to suit different rafter depths and overhang profiles. Choosing the wrong width leaves either a gap above the soffit or an overhang that looks out of proportion.
Soffit panels span from the back of the fascia board to the wall. On cavity wall properties, the soffit usually sits in a channel or on a bearer fixed to the wall face. The panel needs to sit flat and be fixed without sagging, particularly on wider overhangs.
Ventilation is addressed at this stage. Perforated soffit panels or individual vent strips need to be included to allow airflow into the roof void. Building regulations set out minimum ventilation requirements for different roof types. On a cold pitched roof, a continuous 25 mm clear ventilation gap at eaves level is the standard minimum. If the soffit being removed had no ventilation, fitting new solid panels without ventilation is not good practice and should be questioned.
Guttering is hung on brackets screwed into the new fascia. The first bracket is set at the high end of the run and the last at the outlet end above the downpipe position. A string line or laser level is used to set the fall between them - the gutter needs to drop towards the outlet at around 1:350, which works out to approximately 3 mm per metre. On a ten-metre run, that is a 30 mm drop from one end to the other. It sounds small but it is enough to drain the gutter fully after rain.
Intermediate brackets are fitted at no more than 1 metre intervals for uPVC, or closer for cast iron which is heavier. Each gutter section is clipped in and union joints sealed. Angles, stop-ends and outlets are all fitted and tested with water before the scaffold comes down. A gutter that looks right but has not been tested is a risk - leaking union seals are not always visible until water runs through.
Downpipes are clipped to the wall with pipe brackets at regular intervals - unsupported downpipes flex in wind and pull away from their fittings. At the base, the shoe or bend that directs water into the drain is checked for position. Water must discharge into the drain opening, not onto the ground beside it. Where an existing drainage connection is offset, short lengths of pipe can re-route the outlet accurately.
On properties with hoppers - the open collection boxes often found on older two-storey houses - the hopper position is checked and the pipework connections below it confirmed. Hoppers are a common blockage point and are worth replacing if they are cracked or if the outlet is difficult to clear.
Once everything is fitted, a final check runs along the full length of the new roofline. Every gutter bracket is confirmed tight, every joint clipped and sealed, every downpipe clip secure. Water is run from the top of each downpipe run to check flow and confirm no pooling in the gutter channels.
All old materials - timber, uPVC, old brackets, fixings and debris - are cleared from site. Tiles that were lifted to access the fascia are re-bedded and re-checked. The site is left as it was found, minus the failed roofline and the problems that came with it.
The time a roofline replacement takes depends on the size of the property and the number of elevations being replaced. Larger properties or those where rafter foot repairs are needed take longer. Any roofer who quotes a one-day turnaround for a full detached house replacement is either working with a large crew or skipping steps.
We carry out fascia, soffit and guttering work in Sutton and the nearby villages. If your roofline needs attention and you want to know exactly what the job involves before agreeing to anything, call Ely Roofers and we will carry out a proper inspection and talk you through what we find.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
