Gutter & soffit material question.

vijay0606 · 6 March 2011 at 2:48PM

Hi Experts?

i am looking to replace my gutter, soffit and fasica and it's semi-detched 3 bedroom house. The soffit and fasica are the wooden board and roofer quoted me a new wooden replacement. Is it a good idea to replace with wooden or go with UPVC? Roofer is saying that wooden board will match with neighbour, is that correct? what is the general recommedation, wooden or UPVC?

I was quoted for gutter (asbestos), soffit, fasica (front/back) and felt on the front side of the roof replacement for £600, is that reasonable in Middlesex, London?

Any local (middlesex) roofer recommendation much appreciated?

Thanks , VJ

keystone · 6 March 2011 at 2:53PM

If you are going for replacement I'd suggest UPVC. Does it matter if it doesn't exactly match the neighbour?

Make sure from your quotes that:

a. They are not suggesting overboarding the old soffits and fascias - replace means that and if you overboard the old rotting stuff will just continue to rot underneath.

b. They have allowed for replacement of the sarking felt at the roofline at the same time.

Cheers

knowloads · 7 March 2011 at 8:54AM

Despite PVC looking OK it does not have the lifespan the wood has given. PVCu starts to dry out, harden and get dull and brittle within 10 yrs. If your house is 50, 100 yrs old it is unlikely the wood has been replaced since new. They do need painting ever 15 yrs or so. If the PVC is to replace existing wood, it has to be thicker that the overlay stuff, and I doubt they could buy the parts for less than £300, and as mentioned above the sarking or bottom 12" of felt will prbably need replacement.

iamcornholio · 7 March 2011 at 9:34AM

Generally, timber fascias and soffits do not need replacing unless they are rotten. If rotten, then there is an underlying problem with the roof letting them get wet and stay wet - and that needs addressing.

Timber will have maintenance (painting) requirement every five years or so. Plastic will last about 25-35 years - but will require a clean every few years

The problem with replacing in timber retrospectively is that you have to be sure that it is all properly fitted, primed/pained and sealed - and it is difficult to do this unless you pay a premium rate for the time it takes the contractor to use scaffold and strip the eaves for access. In addition, todays timber is fast grown and just wont last as long in this use without much more careful ongoing maintenance

You need to use plastic eaves tray to lap the new felt into the gutter, and not just sarking felt - which will rot in a few years and you are back to square one