Fascia, soffit and guttering replacement in Canford Heath
Rotten timber boards stripped back to the rafters, new uPVC fascias, soffits and bargeboards fitted, and new gutters hung to a proper fall.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Most of Canford Heath still has, or has already replaced, the painted timber fascias, soffits and bargeboards the estate was built with in the 1970s and 1980s. Where the timber has gone soft we strip it back to the rafter feet and fit new uPVC boards, vents and guttering, priced line by line.
Canford Heath rooflines start needing work in a few predictable places. Paint flaking off the boards and bare wood showing at the joints. A gutter that has dropped at one end so it overflows in rain. Or a gap along the soffit where birds or wasps have found their way into the eaves and the loft.
If water is pouring down the wall or finding its way inside, ring 07435 839745 and we will talk you through what to do first. Otherwise Thomas comes out to Canford Heath, looks along every run from a ladder, pushes a screwdriver into the timber, and gives you a written price.
The roofline
Fascias, soffits, bargeboards and the gutters they carry
Timber fascias gone soft. The original boards on the Canford Heath estate were softwood, painted, and they rot first at the joints and behind the gutter brackets, where water sits. Once a fascia is rotten, the brackets pull away and the gutter sags. We remove the old board completely, check the rafter feet and wall plate behind it for rot, splice in new timber where needed, and fix a full replacement uPVC fascia with stainless screws.
Capping over, and why we rarely do it. Covering sound timber with a thin uPVC capping board is quicker and cheaper, and it can be fine where the timber underneath is dry and firm. Capping over soft wood just hides the rot, and it keeps going. We tell you which you have before we price it.
Soffits and ventilation. The flat boards under the eaves close the gap between the wall and the fascia. Where the loft has since been insulated to the eaves, air often cannot get through, and condensation builds on the underside of the felt. New soffits can carry vents, or an over fascia vent can go in, to give the loft the air gap it needs.
Bargeboards on the gables. Gabled Canford Heath houses have a sloping bargeboard up each gable end under the verge. They take the weather side on and rot at the bottom. We replace them in matching uPVC, and if the verge mortar above has failed we can fit a dry verge at the same time.
Eaves detail. Behind the fascia we fit a felt support tray so the roof underlay drains cleanly into the gutter instead of rotting the back of the new board. A tilt fillet or a new first course of tile may be needed if the old eaves had sagged.
Guttering and downpipes. New gutters go on to a proper fall, with a bracket every metre or so, new outlets, unions and hoppers where they are needed. Half round, square, ogee and deepflow profiles are all available, and deepflow suits the larger roof slopes on detached houses. Cast iron is rare on Canford Heath. We make sure each downpipe shoe discharges into a clear gully.
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 rather than 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.
Nothing in Canford Heath is listed and no conservation area covers it, which you can check on the council's heritage pages, so replacing fascias, soffits and guttering like for like needs no planning permission.
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. A detached Canford Heath house with a long run of eaves, a mid terrace where the gutter is shared with the houses either side, and a bungalow that can be reached from a tower all price differently. 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 is worth a phone call rather than a wait, 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 a length of gutter is hanging off over a path or a drive, keep people and cars out from under it until it is taken down or refixed. 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
You can choose the colour and profile you want
Parts of Poole and Bournemouth, the older streets especially, sit in conservation areas, where the colour and material of a fascia or a gutter can be a planning matter. Canford Heath has no conservation area and nothing listed, so here the choice is simply yours.
That means you can go for black, anthracite grey, brown or woodgrain as well as white, and a square or deepflow gutter instead of the old half round if it suits the roof better. The only thing to think about is your neighbours: on a pair of Canford Heath semis or a terrace, where the fascia runs straight on from one house to the next, a change of colour is obvious at the join. Neighbours can have both houses done at the same time so the run matches, with each owner quoted separately. If yours is a leasehold flat or maisonette, check with the freeholder before you choose.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Canford Heath and the streets around it, from Gravel Hill across to Tower Park, and out to Creekmoor, Oakdale and Broadstone. BCP Council is the local authority, and our base in Boscombe is about six miles away.
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 Canford Heath, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Canford Heath?
Most repairs in Canford Heath 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 Canford Heath |
|---|---|
| Who decides | BCP Council is the planning authority for Canford Heath. BCP Council's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | None covers Canford Heath, so a like-for-like repair is ordinary maintenance. |
| Listed buildings | Nothing in Canford Heath is on the statutory list, so listed building consent does not come into it. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Canford Heath. |
Questions
Questions about fascias and guttering in Canford Heath
Should I replace my fascias or just cap over them?
If the timber is sound, capping can be fine. If it is soft, it needs to come off, or the rot keeps spreading behind the new board. We check it with a screwdriver and tell you which.
Can I have grey or black fascias?
Yes. Canford Heath has no conservation area, so the colour is your choice. On a semi or a terrace, think about how it will look against the house next door.
Do you replace the gutters at the same time?
Usually, yes. Old gutters rarely go back well on new boards. New gutters are listed separately on the quote so you can see what they cost.
Will new soffits stop birds getting into my loft?
They close off the gaps birds use. Soffit vents are fitted with a fine mesh so air gets in and birds and wasps do not.
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Get your Canford Heath roofline priced
Thomas checks every board and gutter and gives you a written itemised price. The visit and the quote are both free.