New fascia - cost?

[Nitro®]

I am considering new fascias due to rot at the corners and a few other areas. Some extend no more than a foot before becoming solid timber again and other areas more than three feet. I don't think splicing in new wood would be the best solution and it would entail a lot of sanding and painting to match it all in.

The guttering is the culprit for most of the rot and peeling of paint, the remainder is purely down to age and a lack of maintenance by the previous owners.

The guttering will be sorted when new fascias are fitted, but how much could I expect to pay for a 3 bed detached house? I'd like wood again and not just clad the existing rot with plastic. (Soffits are pretty much in good order).

[The Natural Philosopher]

DIY or GAMI (Get a man in) ?

[Andrew Gabriel]

Well, this is a DIY group, so I did my own. Front was done about 3 months ago, the back about 5 years ago, and the front bay and porch apron before even that (and still looks as good as new).

Cladding existing rot is a disaster, and likely to make it rot faster, and turn into something really serious. So either replace with timber, or with uPVC. I used timber.

However, facia is just part of maintaining the gutterline, and I would suggest you do the rest too. I temporarily removed bottom 2 rows of tiles, ripped off facias, rot-proofed the wall plate, rafter, and joist ends. (House has no soffits, so in this case facia is fitted directly to side of wall plate.) New facias were cut to size and temporarily nailed on to check fit. Then removed to indoors, rot-proofed, primed, undercoat, topcoat. Facias fitted, and eaves tray slid under the felt edge and fixed to the rafters. (Good to check you have eves ventilation too.) Tiles refitted. New gutters and downpipes fitted. I worked from scaffolding, which was about £350 to have erected and removed, and worth every penny. It also allowed for repainting the upstairs windows.

BTW, buy the new timber facias many weeks beforehand, unwrap, leave to dry and warp. I get about 2 usable pieces out of a pack of 5. You can use the rest for boarding the loft, or something similar.

[Phil L]

You are talking about renewing the fascias and guttering in one go really. It's not feasible to remove then re-use the existing guttering onto new fascias. upvc fascias (not coverboard) are approx £20 for 5m lengths. Guttering is approx £8 for 4m lengths, fittings a few quid each and brackets a quid a pop.

Working on these rough prices, if your house is 10m X 10m, per elevation you will need:

2 lengths fascia = £40 3 lengths guttering = £24 fittings = £12 Brackets =£10

About £90 per elevation, plus:

2 boxes pvc headed stainless steel pins for fascia @ £7 = £14 Screws for guttering = £8

Approx £400 for materials, plus:

Without scaffolding, 2 men could do this in 3 days @ say £125 per day

You'd be lucky to get change out of £1200

Don't think about timber, it works out more expensive and the s**te we get in this country now won't last 15 years, and this is provided you treat it with preservative a few times and repaint bi-annually.

[<me9]

I've been quoted about that for mine.

However, I've just started on mine, so far £300+ on materials. £200 on tools/access (A good excuse for extra tools).

However (again) I've now found out why I should have completed roof repairs about 10 years ago. After removing the first bit of verge has revealed rotten rafter below. so another 100 (so far) for extra felt and dryridge, and a summer spent on the roof removing and replacing tiles and assorted underneath with correctly done detailing.

The original problem was incorrect positioning (and skimping of) underfelt. This led to water draining into the the timbers below. The front I replaced the barge boards and sorted the leak 25 years ago. The back I started 12 years ago and did one half properly, planning to continue the next year. This is teh quadrant I've started on now. I'm braced for more shocks when I remove the tiles. I've taken photos, may put them up on completion. A telephoto camera is a useful inspection tool!

[Nitro®]

Need a few new windows (single glazed leaded that have bowed in and out), well they all should be done really, so time to look at the nationals and locals and drum up a deal.