Replacing Wooden Soffits

[Ian]

Apologies that this is slightly OT in that it's not something I am intending to d-i-myself.

Basically, I need what I thought was a small guttering job doing - the downpipe has become detached from the gutter. I thought at worst it might involve replacing the downpipe and the guttering along that side of the house. I also thought if I was getting someone in that I might as well look into having a couple of soffit boards replaced. These butt against each other at the soil pipe, with a semicircle cut out of each to fit around the soil pipe. It is around these cuts that there is visible evidence from ground level of some rot. This has been here since moving into the house a few years ago and doesn't seem to have got significantly worse.

So anyway, I got someone round to look at it. It was the stereotypical: scratch head, rub chin, "you're looking at a big job 'ere mate". What he said was that all of the guttering would have to come off the side and that all of the soffits on that side and the timber at right angles to soffits (forget what they are called) would have to be replaced. He said it is hard to replace just one or two and it isn't cost effective. He also said it is likely the other boards are rotten anyway. Now, as far as I can tell from the ground they all look pretty sound apart from this couple and I reckon that the reason they are rotten is just that the wood has been more exposed where it has been cut around the soil pipe. He didn't get up there with a ladder to actually check them out anyway.

So the upshot was that my small job to fix the downpipe to the gutter has expanded into a 750 quid job. Moreover the quote says that the other sides of the house may also need doing if they find that they are rotten when they get up there, at a cost of 60 quid/m.

What do people think? Is it really so difficult to replace a couple of timber soffits without doing a whole run of them? I'll pay to have them all done if they really do need replacing but it seems wrong to me to do it willy-nilly like this.

Thanks.

Ian

[Paper2002AD]

Firstly, get up there with a ladder and have a poke right round the house with a screwdriver to see what is rotted and what is sound.

If the rot extends to a relatively small area, and if you are reasonably handy, do it yourself. You need not replace any more soffit or bargeboard than is necessary. If the rot is extensive, either do it yourself with the help of a friend with a second ladder, or get some more quotes. Did the guy actually get up there or was he guessing at the extent of the problem?

If it's an extensive job, I would consider UPVC replacement soffit/bargeboard (NOT cladding, that just covers up the rot!). Shop around for plastic quotes anyway - nowt to lose, is there?

If you stick with wood, make sure it's painted regularly to avoid more rot. (Yes, I do have an A Level in The Bleedin Obvious)

Good luck.

[rrh]

My house has wooden soffits and they have more than once rotted around downpipes but been sound elsewhere, and have been perfectly well repaired with a piece or two of ply cut to shape. It probably is quite a job to replace the lot but do make sure first that you really have to.