Resisting the switch to PLASTIC fascias & soffits!

gutovicky

Hello all,

I am really struggling with how best to repair the roofline of my roof. 
Could Forum members please put me out of my misery by helping me to COME TO A DECISION!!??

My home is a bungalow, built 1970.  It has a simple pitched roof with 2x pine/gable ends, one facing north & the other facing south.  The roof is concrete tiles over old-style bitumen felt. 
At the roofline, there’s wooden soffits, fascias & barge boards, although the south-facing barge boards have been clad with uPVC for some reason.  The roof’s gable ends have wet verges (ie: gap between tiles and undercloaking is filled with cement).

Right now, the roofline needs fairly urgent repair, as follows:
1. the cement of the wet verges is badly cracked;
2. all 4x timber box-ends (corners) are badly rotten [having presumably received water draining through the cracked cement for years?], and
3. the barge boards on the gable ends need replacing (timber is swollen behind the uPVC and there’s some warping elsewhere).

On the other hand, much of the timber of the fascias and soffits down the length of the property (along the eaves) is sound.  

When I seek quotes for repairs from roofing firms, almost all want to fit new timber all the way round and then clad it all in uPVC.

My problem is that I’m not sure I want this….
a) I prefer the look of timber to plastic;
b) I’m nervous of the ‘uPVC-cladding-over-timber’ approach [because of the potential for any damage occurring to be hidden]; and
c) It also seems a shame to remove lots of sound timber along the eaves, just to replace it.

Apart from that, it seems I may be forced to switch to a dry verge system at the gable ends anyway, because no-one seems willing to repair/replace the cement work.

Am I foolish to resist the switch to uPVC cladding? 
Why would the south-facing barge boards have been uPVC cladded at some point in the past? - to protect the wooden boards beneath from damage by sun/heat?

Can anyone offer advice?
What would you do in my place?

Thank you so much for your time!

Simonon77

I much prefer the look of wood as well, but it isn't the best material for longevity. UPVC is much easier to keep clean, looks good for a lot longer and doesn't need repainting every couple of years. 

Alanp

We had ours replaced with upvc, so glad I did, the wood always looked dirty and was a pain to try and keep clean, so I didn’t bother, I repainted it once, ( bungalow) and it looked good for about a year, then it just looked mucky, I haven’t cleaned ours as yet and I’m planning to do it in a couple of weeks, so I’d say, come to the dark side , sooo much easier.

Ectophile

I went for PVC.  Not PVC cladding over rotting timber, just solid PVC.  It doesn't need repainiting every few years.

ThisIsWeird

Yes, smooth white PVC cladding often ain't the prettiest, but see if your bungalow can be given an aesthetic lift by changing the colour to, say, anthracite. If so, you can get fascia boards with a fine woodgrain finish and crisper edges, and you might find this more acceptable. It also looks nice and crisp alongside black guttering and white soffits (well ventilated, of course).

Perhaps even consider a change of window colour to match, which can be done with specialist paint.  And possibly even the sub- DPC brickwork. 

IE, consider an overall change, and see if it will work. If you post a photo of your bungie, folk will likely be able to offer suggestions.

Simonon77

Ugh anthracite upvc or black window frames ! . I think they are going to become the new stone cladding. OK I admit it can look nice on very modern architecty style houses, but looks completely out of place on most others and I have a feeling will soon be out of fashion again like P shape baths and rag rolled walls...

ThisIsWeird

Simonon77 said:

Ugh anthracite upvc or black window frames ! . I think they are going to become the new stone cladding. OK I admit it can look nice on very modern architecty style houses, but looks completely out of place on most others and I have a feeling will soon be out of fashion again like P shape baths and rag rolled walls...

Ha-ha - you could be right!

There was a thread around a year ago when a cove with a bungalow was looking for ideas to update its exterior appearance, and I posted a photo of a house down our road which was given a makeover. General local consensus is that it's smart.

But, of course, it's down to individual taste. Just giving the fellow some options

gutovicky

Thank you - hmmm, an interesting debate is blowing up around giving the whole bungalow a face-lift!!

Yup, I realise the plastic would be a lot easier to keep clean & fresh looking...

But what about my concerns that the plastic can mask bad things happening to the wood, hidden-from-view??
Is that even a 'thing' or just a rumour?
What could go wrong with the wood behind the plastic? What are the things to look out for?

And yeah, Ectophile, I would, as a compromise, go for thicker plastic trim on it's own (rather than capping timber boards), but no-one has offered that option so-far...   I'm not sure my roof is built for that (maybe rafter tails too lightweight to support??).

Any further insight or advice would be great - I'm all ears.
Cheers

ThisIsWeird

Ah, I see your main concern.

"When I seek quotes for repairs from roofing firms, almost all want to fit new timber all the way round and then clad it all in uPVC" As it clearly does for you, that just seems nuts to me. Double the work! And potentially added risk! Lawdie.

I don't understand why the PVC material cannot be used directly without the timber underneath - it's the way new builds are done. I presume it requires a thicker material, but hey.

I have heard of the risk of the timber sweating behind a PVC cover, and it promoting rot - but I have no idea if this is actually an issue or just an 'urban'. So, can't help with that.

Personally, I'd keep on looking for other quotes, and I'd go for either a complete PVC replacement for the timber, or - if most of the timber is currently in good condition - a timber replacement of the rotten bits, and an overpaint using a high quality product such as Zinsser AllCoat. That would have to be a gutter-off job, ideally, but should be a lot cheaper and last as long as the original, which I'm guessing is a good 20+ years? When are you planning to sell?! And it shouldn't need a repaint for the best part of a decade.

Unless someone tells me that redoing it all in timber and then cladding that in PVC is a 'good idea', I'd avoid it as an option.

As for the wet verges, aren't there plastic cappings that can be fitted over these?

I still think it's worth considering the whole bungalow's colour scheme, tho'. Obviously I have no idea what it currently looks like, but I'm just putting the idea there since you are likely going to be forking out a couple of £k or so, and this might be an opportunity to do something significant?

Alanp

We had ours completely removed and replaced with upvc, not over the existing wood, unlike our neighbours who had theirs fitted by stevie wonder…

Simonon77

There is nothing wrong with cladding wood with pvc as long as the wood below is sound. If it is already damp or rotten, then it could make it worse by trapping the moisture in there. If the wood is fine, then adding an extra layer of waterproof protection isn't going to damage it in most cases.