I reckon I can replace my soffits and fascia for about a third of some of the quotes I have had. Any one had experience of DIY replacement - my situation is 4 bed detached, one side has access via flat garage roof,other is full height from ground, barge boards similar,one end from extension flat roof,other full height.Can I do it from ladders or should I hire scaffold tower?Any advice gratefully received. Mark Atherton
You can do it with ladders - but it is really a 2-person job, with 2 ladders.
What are you replacing the fascia boards with? The best solution, in my view, is to replace any rotten timber with new - and then cover the whole lot with uPVC lipped fascia board cladding. That way, you'll never have to do it again - on that house, at any rate.
You'll have to take the gutters - and their brackets - down, of course - and probably slide the botton row of roof tiles up out of the way. Be careful not to damage the felt, and make sure that it feeds back into the gutters when you replace them.
You can legally do it from what you like as you are the householder but I certainly wouldnt do it of anything other than scaffold or towers Ladders under Health and Safety are for access and very minor works. If you are replacing the soffit and fascia I do not think that would come under minor works or operations.
It would be a bu**er of a job to do with ladders, even with help. Access towers can be hired fairly cheaply from places like HSS if you decide to do-it-yourself.
I left it to the professionals... If you get it wrong the house can look terrible and, more importantly, water could penetrate into the loft space and damage the roof structure and rooms below.
Another point worth noting is the type of replacements available. There are two methods readily available, - cladding, where the existing timers are covered with uPVC ( with timbers repaired if necessary ) - replacement, where the existing wooden boards are removed and replaced, in their entirety, with uPVC products.
The benefit of the latter is that there is no wood left behind the cladding to rot over the next few years.
When I had the work done ( approx. 12 months ago ) the quotes varied massively, so shop around before thinking about doing it yourself. I ended up finding a local roofing specialist who provided replacement ( not cladding ) at a far cheaper price than so-called specialists ( who are usually window & conservatory companies that also do cladding work )
I am watching this being done professionally across the road from me at this very moment. Scaffolding on one gable end where there's not enough angle on the ladder, 2 ladders and 2 blokes the other end, and twin towers with aly staging at the front where they only have to get up to the eaves. This is their 3rd day........
We've had a local firm doing the front soffits and gutters today -- coming back Monday to do the rear -- and they've done it entirely on ladders.
They don't appear to be cowboys (small, but established, local roofing firm); I was surprised that they're not using a tower but assumed that there's some get-out that categorises it as minor works.
We're having ours done at this very minute (they've been doing the front today, rear on Monday/Tuesday), so although it won't make any difference now, I'd be curious to know your comparatives.
(FWIW, ours was originally a 3-bedroom semi, but with roughly double the normal length of fascia, as it was extended over a garage to make 5 bedrooms upstairs . The quote for removal, disposal and full replacement including gutters was £1,300, VAT included.)
Thanks for that: I thought it sounded in the right ball-park.
[There was no way I could have considered diy-ing the job: I've never been happy working at eaves level even on a tower, and ladders at that height are just out of the question for me. I previously hired these same guys just to do gutter clearing, as I'd found that exceedingly tricky to manage with my eyes closed and both hands white-knuckle- gripping the rungs of the ladder.... ;)]
I'm currently pricing up a 4 bed house and intend using 9mm fascia cladding on top of the existing woodwork. It comes in 5m lengths so it has to be a 2-man job in my book but ladders should be fine.
I'm looking at
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at present. Have you found anywhere more competitive?
It may well qualify as minor works but if one man falls of the ladder and injures himself then HSE will surely be involved and the company does not stand a chance. HSE regulations regarding ladders state that ladders are routes of access to other areas not working platforms
I must admit that I've thought about replacing my bargeboards, fascias and soffits with uPVC as this obviously does away with the need to paint, but, I am concerned that after 4-5 years of UV radiation, damp and rain, the uPVC is going to look decidedly discoloured and "tired". The only way to avoid this would appear to be by regularly cleaning the uPVC which somewhat defeats the object of a low maintenance material. Anybody have uPVC of any age on their bargeboards etc? Does it still look good? My windows are uPVC from new and the house is 8 years old and the finish is a bit weather-beaten.
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