Fascia, soffit and guttering replacement in Branksome
New fascias, soffits, gutters and downpipes on Edwardian houses, post-war semis and the flats above the Poole Road shops.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Last updated
When a fascia in Branksome has gone soft or a gutter has dropped out of line, the answer is usually to take the old boards down, check the rafter ends behind them and fit new fascia, soffit, gutter and downpipes. We do not cap over rot.
What goes wrong on a Branksome roofline depends on the house. A timber fascia on an Edwardian house that has been painted so many times the paint is holding it together. A plastic gutter on a 1970s semi that sags between brackets and pours over one corner in heavy rain. Or a run above a shopfront on Poole Road dripping onto the pavement, where the flat above is the one getting damp.
We come out to Branksome, look at the eaves close up and tell you what is sound. If rain is getting inside, down a wall or through a ceiling, ring 07435 839745 instead of filling in the form, because an overflowing gutter can put water into a house as fast as a broken tile.
The work
Boards, gutters and downpipes, house by house
Timber on the older houses. The pre-war houses in Branksome mostly started with painted softwood fascias and, on the gables, bargeboards. Sound timber can be repaired and painted. Rotten timber comes off, and once it is down we check the rafter feet and the wall plate, because a fascia rots from the back where water has tracked behind the gutter. Soft rafter ends are spliced or packed before a new board goes on.
Full replacement, not capping. Capping over an old board with a thin plastic cover is cheaper for a few years, then the rot underneath shows up in the gutter line. We strip the old boards and fit full replacement uPVC fascia and soffit, fixed with stainless screws, and put in a felt support tray or tilt fillet at the eaves so the bottom course of tiles drips into the gutter. That eaves detail is covered by BS 5534.
Soffits, birds and ventilation. A gap at the soffit lets in wasps and birds, and a nest in the eaves blocks the air path to the loft. New soffits can be vented, or an over fascia vent fitted, so the loft keeps its air gap and condensation does not form on the roof timbers.
Gutters and downpipes. Half round, square, ogee and deepflow profiles in plastic, aluminium or cast iron. The gutter needs a steady fall to the outlet and a bracket every metre or so. Each downpipe finishes in a shoe over a gully, not onto a path or the foot of the wall, where it stains the brickwork and soaks the base of it.
Later houses and blocks. Most of Branksome's post-war and newer homes already have uPVC. What fails there is a union seal, a bracket that has dropped or a blocked hopper, and that is a repair, not a new roofline. A whole roofline on an ordinary semi is often two or three working days.
How it runs
From your call to a written price
One person to ring from the first visit to the last. The quote is itemised, not a figure on the back of a card: access, the length of each run, stripping the old boards and gutter, the fascia, soffit and any bargeboard, the gutter, outlets and downpipes, and disposal on separate lines, so you can compare it properly against anyone else's.
Nothing is left open or unusable overnight. The site is swept at the end of each day, not the end of the job, and what comes out leaves with us. If something turns up once we start that nobody could have seen, you get a photograph and a price before we carry on.
Replacing fascias, soffits and gutters on a house is not normally a planning matter. In the Brunstead Road Conservation Area, swapping painted timber or cast iron for a different material on a front elevation can be, so we check the address against BCP Council's list of conservation areas before we specify anything.
Cost
What decides the price of a roofline
No rate per square metre, because a metre of fascia over a bay is not the same metre as one on a straight gable.
Getting to it. An Edwardian house near County Gates with deep eaves and bargeboards, a 1970s semi with a plain roofline and a side path, and a shop with a flat above it on Poole Road with the gutter over the pavement are three very different jobs. A bungalow run comes off a tower, a two or three storey gable wants a scaffold, and a run over a conservatory or a bay window means building the platform around it. The work at height rules are why the access is a priced line rather than something absorbed into a rate.
What is behind the boards. Rotten fascia is a symptom. The question is whether the rafter feet and the wall plate behind it are still sound, and nobody knows until the old board comes off. Capping over with plastic hides that instead of fixing it, which is why we take the old boards off rather than clad them.
The run, not the metre. A straight gable is quick. Bay windows, a conservatory in the way, a corner return, a run that has to be worked around a satellite dish or a service cable, and every outlet, hopper and downpipe are priced one at a time. So is putting the fall back: a gutter hung level looks fine and holds water all year.
Comparing quotes? Ask whether the old boards are coming off or being capped over, what happens if the rafter feet or the wall plate turn out to be rotten, whether the gutter, outlets and downpipes are all being renewed or only the fascia, and whether the scaffold is in the price.
If a section has come away
A gutter hanging off, or a fascia gone through
Ring rather than use the form. A length of gutter pulled off its brackets, a downpipe snapped at the bend or a fascia soft enough to put your hand through goes to the front of the queue, because the next heavy rain runs straight down the wall and into the brickwork.
The first visit is about getting it supported and discharging somewhere sensible, and we price the run properly once we can see how far the rot goes. If the gutter belongs to a Branksome block or a converted house, tell the managing agent too, because the roofline is part of the building rather than one flat. Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. For anything urgent, ring rather than use the form, and if we cannot pick up we ring you back as soon as we can.
Worth knowing
Working over the pavement on Poole Road
Poole Road runs right through Branksome, and a lot of property along it, the shops with flats above and the houses set close to the road, has its gutter over or beside the pavement. That changes how the job is set up.
A ladder against a Branksome shopfront on a busy road is not a safe way to replace a fascia, so these jobs are usually done from a scaffold or a tower. Anything that stands on the pavement needs a licence from the council under section 169 of the Highways Act, with the footway kept open for people walking past.
For you, that means allowing a little more lead time than for a house on a Branksome side street, because the licence has to be in place before the scaffold goes up. And check the quote says who arranges it. Ours does: the licence, the scaffold and the barriers are listed separately, so you can compare them with anyone else's price. Where the shop and the flat above have different owners, it also helps to agree early who is paying for which run of gutter.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Branksome and BH12, from County Gates and Brunstead Road along Poole Road past the station to Alder Road, and next door into Parkstone and Westbourne. BCP Council deals with planning and building control, and we are based in Boscombe.
You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, which you can look up in a minute. Thomas Hannen's business, and he is the one who comes out to price the job, not a salesman. A verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the written quote are both free. Before you book a visit in Branksome, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Branksome?
Most repairs in Branksome need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.
| Question | In Branksome |
|---|---|
| Who decides | BCP Council is the planning authority for Branksome. BCP Council's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Brunstead Road Conservation Area. Check whether your street is inside the boundary before changing anything visible. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Branksome. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Branksome. |
Questions
Questions about fascias and guttering in Branksome
Why not just cap over my old fascias?
Because capping hides the rot instead of fixing it. We take the old boards down, check the rafter feet and fit new, so you know what was behind them.
My gutter is on Poole Road over the pavement. Is that a problem?
Not a problem, just more planning. It usually means a scaffold or tower with a council licence, which we arrange and show as its own line on the quote.
How long does a new roofline take?
An ordinary semi is often two or three working days. A larger house with several gables and bays takes longer, and the quote says how long.
Do you take the old boards and gutters away?
Yes. The old timber, plastic and any cast iron leave with us, and the site is swept at the end of every day.
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Get your Branksome roofline priced
Thomas comes out, looks at the boards, the gutters and what is behind them, and gives you a written itemised quote. The visit and the quote are both free.