Soffit, Fascia, Gutter replacement advice

AlphaGrills

Hi,

The soffits, fascias and gutters in our house are very old and need replacing in my opinion.

I have obtained a quote from a builder who has performed some small jobs for myself and my mother (tile replacing, blown brick in chimney) but I want to make sure I make the right decisions.

We have very old gutters that have flaking paint, or whatever else is covering them. I thought they were iron, but he has quoted as them being asbestos. We have wooden fascias and what I think are cement board soffits (maybe asbestos). The soffits at the back have some areas of flaking paint but at the front look ok if not a little stained, to my untrained eye. The gutters at the back leak in heavy rain. We had them cleared out today and the man clearing them said they were very blocked in parts. Our house is a mid-terraced 3 bedroom ex-council prefab house.

Our builder's quote states that he will take down and remove the gutters and fascias. They will take them to licensed waste stations, and they hold a waster carriers license. They also say that a registered asbestos team will take off the guttering. They will the supply and install 17mm white PVC-ue solid state fascias and over clad the soffits with 9mm white PVC. They will then supply and install black guttering and downpipe.

This was for £1600+VAT.

How does this sound?

Questions that I have for them are:
- Why will the soffits be overclad rather than replaced?
- Will this cover checking the rafter ends and repairs?
- Is the quote for the front and back of the property? (it doesn't say so).
- Is there a guarantee?

Is there anything else I should be asking?

I know there are many discussions about over clad vs full replacement and horror stories both ways (over cladding leaves rot in place and increases it, replacement can bend or is weaker). I read this site and it looked pretty scary

I will try to find other quotes but I want to make sure I get someone I can trust and also get the right work done.

Thanks

Ectophile

Some companies don't like removing asbestos soffits as it's more hazardous waste to dispose of safely. If they are a solid board, then over-cladding them should be harmless. What you don't want is cladding over rotting timber.

I would be surprised if the quote included anything more than minor repairs to rafters. If they are badly rotten, the cost can spiral rapidly. In my case, the more they removed, the more problems they found, and I ended up not only getting the rafters repaired, but the whole roof stripped and re-laid with more tiles than before.

It seems that the original builders skimped on materials, letting the water in whenever there was a storm and that slowly rotted the woodwork.

AlphaGrills

I'm hoping that I don't have really rotten rafters then. Not many houses in the area have new roofs but are built off of the same plan so hopefully we are ok. I really can't afford a new roof. We pulled out of one sale to this one because that house needed a new roof. Should our surveyor have noticed badly rotten rafters? We bought in February this year.

Furts

AlphaGrills wrote: »

I'm hoping that I don't have really rotten rafters then. Not many houses in the area have new roofs but are built off of the same plan so hopefully we are ok. I really can't afford a new roof. We pulled out of one sale to this one because that house needed a new roof. Should our surveyor have noticed badly rotten rafters? We bought in February this year.

You should look carefully at your roof felt, if any is present, the wear on the tiles. the state of all timbers, and check for rot, damp and adequate ventilation. Remember that the principle of building conservation and repair is structure, or fabric, first. Likewise with insulation.

Cosmetic items like over cladding soffits should not be your top priority. They are an acquired taste and can de-value, or raise questions with, some properties much like stone cladding did years ago.

A typical soffit, fascia and gutter job does not address roof felt, nor ventilation. I have yet to see a job that has not been bodged.

Your post does not clarify the type of existing gutter - is it cast iron or asbestos? Why replace with black plastic when you will probably be offered the cheapest product available then find it leaking in 5-10 years time?

Hope this helps

AlphaGrills

Furts wrote: »

You should look carefully at your roof felt, if any is present, the wear on the tiles. the state of all timbers, and check for rot, damp and adequate ventilation. Remember that the principle of building conservation and repair is structure, or fabric, first. Likewise with insulation.

Cosmetic items like over cladding soffits should not be your top priority. They are an acquired taste and can de-value, or raise questions with, some properties much like stone cladding did years ago.

A typical soffit, fascia and gutter job does not address roof felt, nor ventilation. I have yet to see a job that has not been bodged.

Your post does not clarify the type of existing gutter - is it cast iron or asbestos? Why replace with black plastic when you will probably be offered the cheapest product available then find it leaking in 5-10 years time?

Hope this helps

I'm a little confused now. Are you saying not to replace our gutters? I believe from his quote that our gutters are asbestos. They leak in heavy rain and have peeling paint.

AlphaGrills

Just to clarify, my primary goal here is to have gutters that don't leak. This seemed to be best achieved by replacing them. The front gutter is unattractive but seems to work fine. The back gutter leaks at 2 points in heavy rain, possibly in part caused by them being blocked. They also have the black covering peeling off.

Furts

AlphaGrills wrote: »

I'm a little confused now. Are you saying not to replace our gutters? I believe from his quote that our gutters are asbestos. They leak in heavy rain and have peeling paint.

Are they leaking because they were blocked? Have you checked this? Is this what caused the paint to peel?

My gutters leaked so I replaced the seals. I did not renew the guttering. On other leaks in the past I have used silicone, or Plumbers Mate or whatever I had to hand and leaks were sealed.

With regard to the flaking paint the gutter could receive a fresh coat of paint, or the paint could be simply touched in.

It is your choice to weigh up the pros and cons. I am simply stating that the default answer to a leaking gutter is not to automatically say it must be renewed. This is even more important when you are a mid terrace house - how do you ensure that your new black plastic adequately seals to the adjoining existing gutter at each adjoining property? Then you consider the aesthetics - your new black plastic may stick out like a sore thumb.

AlphaGrills

Furts wrote: »

Are they leaking because they were blocked? Have you checked this? Is this what caused the paint to peel?

My gutters leaked so I replaced the seals. I did not renew the guttering. On other leaks in the past I have used silicone, or Plumbers Mate or whatever I had to hand and leaks were sealed.

With regard to the flaking paint the gutter could receive a fresh coat of paint, or the paint could be simply touched in.

It is your choice to weigh up the pros and cons. I am simply stating that the default answer to a leaking gutter is not to automatically say it must be renewed. This is even more important when you are a mid terrace house - how do you ensure that your new black plastic adequately seals to the adjoining existing gutter at each adjoining property? Then you consider the aesthetics - your new black plastic may stick out like a sore thumb.

We haven't had rain since they were cleaned out.

Aesthetically we already stick it because every other house has plastic black guttering except us

ed110220

You say the house is of some sort of prefabricated construction. If so, is the roof actually timber? You may be worrying about nothing, as many system-built homes do not have traditional timber roof structures but instead have a steel structure more like a barn or warehouse etc. in that case (like ours) you might not even have any rafters.

Have you checked yourself exactly what the gutters are made of? It's probably the same as the down pipes. Just saying as you originally said you thought they were metal.

Ours are galvanised steel, and though obviously it does take more maintenance than plastic it lasts a lot longer (almost 70 years so far) and is more attractive in my opinion... Higher end buildings often still use something similar so I think it's a pity to see them ripped off just because someone thinks it's easier to bodge some plastic on.

Ed

AlphaGrills

How would I know the difference? I've tapped them and they aren't plastic.

Furts

ed110220 wrote: »

You say the house is of some sort of prefabricated construction. If so, is the roof actually timber? You may be worrying about nothing, as many system-built homes do not have traditional timber roof structures but instead have a steel structure more like a barn or warehouse etc. in that case (like ours) you might not even have any rafters.

Have you checked yourself exactly what the gutters are made of? It's probably the same as the down pipes. Just saying as you originally said you thought they were metal.

Ours are galvanised steel, and though obviously it does take more maintenance than plastic it lasts a lot longer (almost 70 years so far) and is more attractive in my opinion... Higher end buildings often still use something similar so I think it's a pity to see them ripped off just because someone thinks it's easier to bodge some plastic on.

Ed

An excellent spot on post. It concurs with my thoughts and I am suggesting that OP does not jump to conclusions and follow the crowd.

There is now a post saying there is black gutter each side of the home - has OP checked the brands? are they the same as each other? are they compatible with what is being supplied? are they brittle and knackered? does OP know what is being supplied ? - which I have implied but received no response. All this is just the gutter to say nothing of the other proposals or queries

Such appears to be the lack of knowledge, on so many areas, that it would be easier to give the builder whatever is being asked for and then adopt a head in the sand approach.

Was any competent survey undertaken before the house was purchased?