Bargeboards/Fascias Replacement

Replying to my own thread (!), I have searched the archives and googled but haven't really come across a thread or article that expalins all my questions.

However, I am leaning toward replacement of the fascia board with new ( tanalised?) timber. Since I have a slate roof, I'm not keen on removing tiles and ending up with silly little clips everywhere. Since I don't have felt sarking though, I don't perhaps need to have that kind of access.

The difficulty is that the fibrous strip material that the last row of tiles sits on is nailed to the fascia, so I would damage it if I rip the fascia off. Therefore, I will have to eat away the fascia around where the fibrous strip is nailed to it; this will be tedious, but the wood is rotten and I reckon a Dremel with a router bit will chew through it.

Then the fascia can be pulled off. This will cause the lowest line of slates to drop ( hopefully they will not crack off or anything daft ). I then somehow (tbd) wedge up the last row of slates so the new fascia can be positioned without undue heaving. I won't be able to nail the fibrous strip back to the new fascia, but I'm thinking that's not a big deal????

That's my master plan! Loads of scope for unexpected problems, but if anyone can spot an obvious howler please let me know, I can't start until next week anyway!

Andy.

Thanks for that Pete, I'm off out to look at wood now. I'll be using Dulux Trade Weathershield paint which I think fits the microporous description. I'll bear in mind the angle grinder idea, I didn't know they'd go through wood. Alas, I cannot get rid of the fibrous sheet stuff under the last row of tiles, since I'd have to remove a couple of rows of slates. I have found one reason why the rot was so bad in one area: the fibrous sheet is a different pitch to the slates, so at one point in particular the gap in the last row of slates coincides with the gap in two pieces of the fibre sheet, so water comes more or less straight through onto the fascia! I think I'll put some dampproof membrane above the fascia this time, to stop that happening again.

cheers,

Andy.

I did consider this ( the neighbour has just had it done ), but I'm not keen on upvc anyway, and the consensus seems to be that these upvc cladding jobs simply cover up the fascia whilst it continues to rot ( my fascia has moderate rot where it touches the tiles, it being rotten all the way through as far as an inch down in some places ). I have apportioned some of the blame for the rot on previous owners not painting above/behind the gutter, and the rest on water somehow dribbling down the underside of the slates and contacting the top of the fascia.

So, since I'm not going the way of the bodge and painting over lots of rot/covering it up/having drooping tiles, a new fascia seems the way to go. I will place some damp course membrane on top of the fascia this time to prevent any water that gets under the tiles from rotting it.

By the way, my neighbours spent £1200 on upvc cladding, and the workmen bodged the joins with my guttering ( semis ) so that the joins drip when it rains. Also they gave their guttering a slight slope in my direction,, so I got practically all the water from their roof ( until I stuck partitions in the guttering between my sections and theirs. When it rains now they have 2" of water more or less permanently in their guttering, front and back!

Andy.

Hi, a few ideas....

How about laying a thin board or sheet of plywood on top of the roof and clamping and/or taping the tiles to that? Depends whether the tiles are fixed to the facia in any way. The fibrous stuff might be better off replaced, there may be modern equivalents available.

Also a grinder with a new thin metal cutting blade is reasonably good at cutting away old wood, but would need a lot of care using on a ladder. There are special wood cutting blades available but a metal one would be safer if it hit a nail.

If you're getting treated wood try to get some that is sawn aross the middle of the log and has a close grain, otherwise it may warp or split too much with seasonal changes in humidity. If you need to sand or plane it, take all the necessary precautions against the dust. Any cuts in treated wood will need to be well treated too.

It might even be worth getting some kiln dried stuff, especially as it's ready planed and may have less knots, and soaking it in something like Cuprinol Green, particularly any end grain.

If the hidden surfaces of the wood and especially end grain are given one or two coats of wood stain, this will stop any water soaking in but allow the wood to breath.

A good quality oil based microporous wood paint should be best for the visible surfaces.

cheers, Pete.

If the facia and soffit are still sound to some degree, have you considered covering with plastic. There are a couple of companies that could supply plastic facia and soffit boards online.

Seems like a recipe for a much more significant fungal infection which might move on to structural timbers. You can get PVC facias to replace wooden ones, but I wouldn't stick PVC over rotting wood.

I would take the slates off to be sure what is going on underneath.

You can get *thick* 18 or 25mm upvc fascias *replacements*; but don't even think about nailing the thin 8/10mm "Cappit" ones over your existing fascias, for the reasons Andrew gives. See

Finally, it will be a lot easier and safer to get scaffolding up to work from.

Phil The uk.d-i-y FAQ is at

IF the wood it rotten to a significant degree then without doubt they should be replaced. If the wood is sound enough and is only rotten in a couple of places then they can be treated or cut away. If I were to cover it I personally would cut larege enough holes in the soffit boards to allow for ventilation and choose a soffit board with ventilation holes in it. I recently replaced my guttering boards with wood as I personally don't like plastic. This was done with scaffolding and it was still tricky and time consuming. Note that I said if it were sound enough, not cover rotting wood with plastic.

Try it on a few scraps first to get a feel for it. If the old board is nailed a claw hammer and/or pincers might do, or if it's screwed a good but small holesaw can be used to cut round the screws. An old chisel and a mallet is pretty good for getting old wood out too.

Also I'd be tempted to hire a scaffold tower, better than a holiday with the NHS or worse! Maybe a couple of *good* eyebolts in the wall and some wire rope between them to secure the ladder would be helpful, but I'm no expert on this.

cheers, Pete.