plastic cladding over existing barge boards

welshsue

My elderly Polish neighbour had a builder round to repair her flat roof on extension. He told her that her soffits,facias & barge boards needed replacing. The builder instead of replacing the Barge boards is just covering then with plastic(upvc) cladding. I know from when our Landlord had our Barge Boards done they were in quite a poor condition(rot) and were replaced(new wood) and there was rot on some of the rafters which had to be cut out and new treated timber spliced in. I know hers arn't good either(hubby been up on ladder to clear her gutters). So my question is. Is it ok just to cover over the timber or should it all be replaced? Thanks

leveller2911

Hi Sue,
To do a proper job the timber barge boards should be taken down and not clad over.The problem being if there is any rot in the timber barge boards they will continue to rot behind the cladding, then the rafters on which the boards are fixed will rot.

The correct way is to replace completely but many people don't like the hassle of this as there is a chance you can lose some tiles so they don't bother, they just rely on silicone to bodge it.

Your neighbour needs someone she can trust to pop up and have a good prod around, usually the rots starts near the eaves (bottom) end of the barge boards and also check the top edge of the board where it meets the undercloak tiles..

thebaldwindowfitter

All existing timbers should be taken off to do a proper job

welshsue

Thanks for the reply's Guys. The Gable at the west end of her house is the worse it gets all the weather( at the east end of a valley) Our House is behind hers so she gets the brunt of it,so if ours were bad?
Trouble is she won't listen. Last summer her handy man friend concreted over her Air Bricks to her lounge(she has floorboards) Hubby told her to get them opened again as they are there for a reason,still filled in!

cyclonebri1

The reason they go over the original boards are several, I won't mention idleness and profit.

But thinner less rigid plastic can be used when overboarding, it buckles and bows if done without the support of the original bargeboards.

It should be removed to clear any rot and allow better ventilation.

thebaldwindowfitter

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

The reason they go over the original boards are several, I won't mention idleness and profit.

But thinner less rigid plastic can be used when overboarding, it buckles and bows if done without the support of the original bargeboards.

It should be removed to clear any rot and allow better ventilation.

The thinner boards ie cappit boards buckle and bow whether the original fascias /bargeboards are left on

keystone

Not only does the original timber rot underneath when overboarding is done but the guttering won't fit properly afterwards (yes I know the thread is about bargeboards but soffits and fascias have been mentioned too) unless thats replaced too.

Cheers

tony6403

keystone wrote: »

Not only does the original timber rot underneath when overboarding is done but the guttering won't fit properly afterwards (yes I know the thread is about bargeboards but soffits and fascias have been mentioned too) unless thats replaced too.

Cheers

Agree that cladding is not a good way to go , but out of interest , why do you say that the guttering won't fit. The cladding is only about 2.5mm thick.

cyclonebri1

thebaldwindowfitter wrote: »

The thinner boards ie cappit boards buckle and bow whether the original fascias /bargeboards are left on

Completely agree, wouldn't touch the stuff at all, just alerting the OP to the types used.

securityman

we know its better not to over board, but we dont know what she paid for the over boarding. Cost might be coming into play.