Fascias, soffits and guttering in Brockenhurst

Timber under a canopy. A painted fascia on an open elevation can go for years between coats. The same board under oak and beech never really dries out, so the paint blows, the grain opens, and rot works in from the top edge where the felt has shrunk back over the eaves. That is the single biggest difference between roofline work here and roofline work on an open estate, and it is why we test every board with a screwdriver rather than judging it on age.

Taking it apart. Fascia, soffit, bargeboards and the old gutter come off as one job. Cladding over the top of soft timber is the thing we are called back to undo: the board keeps rotting behind the plastic, the bracket screws lose their grip, and the rafter feet and wall plate carry on quietly going. With everything down we can see those, splice a new end onto any rafter foot that has gone, fit a felt support tray so water drips into the gutter instead of behind it, and set a tilt fillet under the bottom course of tiles. Anything lifted at the eaves or the verge goes back as BS 5534 expects. Where the timber genuinely is sound, dry and well fixed, capping the face and lining the soffit is a fair job and cheaper, and we will tell you if that is what you have.

Materials worth the money here. uPVC in black or a woodgrain finish sits better against a forest backdrop than brilliant white and needs no painting. On the Victorian houses the original is cast iron on painted timber, and a sound iron run is worth rubbing down, re-bedding and repainting rather than removing. Aluminium is the one to price on a long unbroken eaves because it can be made in a single length with no unions at all.

Capacity, fall and the pipes. Runs under trees carry more solids than open ones, so the profile matters. Half round is fine on a small roof, but a big slope in driving rain, with needles and moss and debris coming down off the tiles, does better in ogee, square or deepflow, which hold more before the water goes over the back edge. Everything is re-hung on new brackets falling to the outlet, because a level gutter looks right and stands full all year. Unions are resealed, downpipes clipped straight, hopper heads checked, and the shoe set so it discharges into a gully rather than at the wall. Then we close the gaps that let birds and wasps nest behind a soffit, and fit soffit vents or an over fascia vent so the eaves ventilation is not lost and the air gap over the loft insulation stays open. Block that and condensation moves inside. Approved Document F sets the figures.

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. A Victorian house with deep overhanging eaves, a forest lane cottage with the run under a canopy, and a modern bungalow with clear ground all round are three different jobs before a board comes off. 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. Two quotes for the same job are usually two different jobs.

Planning in Brockenhurst does not go to the district council. The village lies inside the New Forest National Park, and the National Park Authority is the local planning authority here, which catches people out when they ring the wrong office and get told there is nothing on record. For a like for like roofline replacement it does not matter, because renewing rotten boards and a failed gutter in the same materials is repair and needs no application at all.

It starts to matter when the appearance changes. The village is a conservation area, so the front of the building is what the designation is about: cast iron and painted timber swapped for white plastic is a change of look rather than a repair, and it is worth a call before you order anything. There are listed entries in the village too, and where a house is listed the rainwater goods and the boards form part of it. The Authority publishes National Park heritage and conservation guidance and it is the quickest way to see where you stand. Our advice is simple: keep the profile, choose a dark or woodgrain finish rather than white, and ask first.

We cover Brockenhurst, Sway, Boldre, Lyndhurst and Beaulieu, broadly SO42, where the New Forest National Park Authority is the planning authority. 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.