Cap wood soffits and fascia with UPVC? and an expensive quote.

IamWood

The paint on the wooden soffits and fascia is peeling, so I’m recommended to cap them with UPVC instead of repainting regularly (scaffolding is required to access) to reduce maintenance costs.

A local gutter company quoted me £6,500 to cover the wood with UPVC, with £1,200 of that being for scaffolding. This seems rather expensive, especially considering that 10 years ago, my neighbor and I re-roofed both houses for £4,000 in total.

I’ve attached some pictures for reference, and any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

stuart45

It's best to get some more quotes to compare them. If you still feel it's too much there's the option of just getting a scaffold and DIY the fascias, soffits and bargeboards. 

IamWood

I've heard that UPVC cladding can sometimes conceal underlying issues with the wood. Is that still something to be concerned about? From what I can see, the wood on my house appears to be in good condition from the ground.

Baldytyke88

IamWood said:

I've heard that UPVC cladding can sometimes conceal underlying issues with the wood. Is that still something to be concerned about? From what I can see, the wood on my house appears to be in good condition from the ground.

If the boards are rotting, surely that rot will spread to what ever they are secured to, the loft beams?

stuart45

If the woods in good condition, capping should be OK, although some fitters prefer not to. 

rubble2

We had all of the facias, soffits and guttering/downpipes replaced with upvc (all the original wood removed) on a four bedroom detached in North West England in July 2022 for £3800 with 15 year warranty. Warranty is via Homeline building products in Blackburn (no idea how the warranty will stand up if we ever need to claim!)

Albermarle

rubble2 said:

We had all of the facias, soffits and guttering/downpipes replaced with upvc (all the original wood removed) on a four bedroom detached in North West England in July 2022 for £3800 with 15 year warranty. Warranty is via Homeline building products in Blackburn (no idea how the warranty will stand up if we ever need to claim!)

Should be ok, they are a reputable company owned by the building products GAP ( HQ is in Blackburn)
There is not a lot that can go wrong with the product in reality.

born_again

I would get some more quotes. 
When we had ours done, they removed all the wood.

Grenage

Don't rule out painting.  If it's done properly it should last a good while.  I did mine 10 years ago and other than a bit of cobwebs and grime, it looks much the same.

I was quoted about 4k at the time for PVC, so same time frame.  I'd assume a fair bit more now.