Fascias, soffits and guttering in Freshwater and Totland
Painted timber boards, moulded fascias and cast iron runs repaired or renewed, with sections matched to what is already there and the timber behind checked first.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Getting on for three in ten homes here went up before 1919, so a lot of this roofline is painted timber and cast iron rather than plastic. On a building of that age the boards and the gutters are part of how it looks, and the right answer is often a repair rather than a replacement.
The calls come in three shapes. A cast iron gutter rusted through at the back that now sends water down the wall. A moulded timber fascia where the paint has blown and the joints have opened at the ends. Or a soffit gone soft under a union that has dripped through a few winters.
Somebody goes up and tests the boards with a screwdriver first, before any conversation about materials, because nothing else gives a straight answer. The survey covers every elevation, the gable verges and each downpipe, and it all goes in writing, itemised, line by line. The site visit and the quote are both free.
The work
Victorian eaves, cast iron runs and low bungalow verges
How an old timber roofline goes. From the end grain and the joints inwards, which is exactly where nobody looks. A deep bargeboard on a gable normally splits at the mitre before it does anything else, then cups. Bubbled or peeling paint tells you water is already under the film, and the timber will stay wet whatever is brushed on top. A dark or green stripe along the lower edge means the run overhead has been spilling onto the board season after season. Not all of it is rot, though: a run sagging between brackets, a length pulled away from the wall, a gutter dropped at one corner, a leaking joint at a union or a clear gutter overflowing in a downpour are mechanical faults. Then the screwdriver: sound timber stops it, rotten timber lets it in like cork.
Cast iron, and when to keep it. Corrosion works outwards from the inner face, the side no brush ever gets to, and the rust then traps water against the timber behind. A run with metal left in it should come down, be cleaned back inside, painted on that face and put up again on fresh joints. If a length really has gone, you can still buy new cast iron, and there are matching mouldings in aluminium and thick walled plastic that hold the same line from the front gate.
The run, and the profile. Lengths and their unions, brackets, the outlet, a hopper head, the downpipe, the shoe. Faults live in those parts rather than in the gutter itself. We remove the old run whole, refix brackets to the spacing the profile needs, put the pipe back on fresh clips and re-hang everything to a fall pulled off a string line, because a run hung dead level looks perfect from the garden and stands water in it all year. Half round is the ordinary domestic gutter and suits the bungalows, ogee sits flat to the fascia and carries more, square is the modern version, and a long steep slope wants deepflow or a second outlet.
What the boards are hiding. Nothing gets decided until the board is down. Then it is rafter feet, the wall plate they bear on, the tilt fillet under the bottom course of tiles, and the underlay, whose drip belongs in the run and which needs a felt support tray to get it there. BS 5534 covers that eaves detail. On a plain elevation, capping over timber that is dry and hard is a fair job. Over a soft board it is a lid, and the brackets carrying your new run go into wet wood.
Air, water and wildlife. A cold roof draws air in at the eaves, and on almost every house that means through the soffit, so soffit vents go back into the new board and an over fascia vent covers a boxed eaves with nothing to cut into. That eaves ventilation only does its job if the air gap over the insulation is left open; shut it and condensation runs off the felt by mid winter, then mould works along the rafters. Approved Document F is what that is held to. At the other end every pipe has to discharge into a gully or a soakaway put far enough out to take it. Water working at the back of the gutter puts staining down brick and render, driving rain stops the wall drying, and a damp solid wall costs far more to put right than the run that caused it. Birds go in behind a soffit through any open joint and wasps go higher up, and a season of moss and debris off the tiles blocks the outlet.
How it runs
From your call to a written price
Same team from first visit to last, one person to ring, and no sub-contracting your work out to somebody you have never met. 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.
Boards and rainwater goods replaced the same as they came off are repair, so nothing goes to planning and nothing goes to building control, and regulation 12 of the Building Regulations 2010 is where that line falls. The Isle of Wight Council is the planning authority here. There is no conservation area over most of the housing, but there are a great many listed entries around Freshwater and Totland, and on a listed building the gutters, hoppers and boards count as fabric with consent granted under section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.
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 Victorian house three storeys up with the run out over a path, a bungalow you can walk a tower along and a flat in a converted house each need a different platform. 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.
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. Tell us on the phone if a run has come down and water is going into a wall, so we can plan the crossing and get to you in one visit rather than two. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies; scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
On a period house, match the section rather than the price
Around a quarter of the housing here predates 1900, and on a building of that age the roofline was made to a section rather than bought off a shelf. A moulded fascia, a deep bargeboard with dentil detail under the eaves, a cast iron ogee run with a hopper head high on the wall: those are the things that make the front of the house look right, and a flat white plastic board across them changes it more than people expect.
The practical answer is usually simpler than it sounds. A rotten timber board can be cut to the same section and moulding, with the end grain sealed and primer on all four faces before it goes up, which is the part that decides how long it lasts. Cast iron that is sound can be repaired and painted internally. Where a replacement is unavoidable, there are profiles that match. What we would not do is take a moulded eaves off a period frontage and put a plain board on because it is quicker, and if a quote does not say what section is going back, that is the question to ask.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Freshwater, Totland, Colwell, Norton, Yarmouth and Shalfleet, broadly PO40, under the Isle of Wight Council. 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.
Questions
Freshwater and Totland questions we get asked
Can you match a moulded fascia or a deep bargeboard?
Yes. The board is machined to the profile already on the building, then the ends are sealed and every face primed before it leaves the ground. That preparation is what decides how long it lasts, so it is written on the quote rather than assumed.
Is a rusty cast iron gutter always a replacement?
No, and often it should not be. Rust works from the inner face outwards, so a length with metal still in it can come down, be cleaned back, painted on that side and re-jointed. We will say honestly when one is past saving.
Do I need permission to change the boards?
On an ordinary house, no. Renewing boards and rainwater goods like for like is repair. If the address is listed, and there are a lot of listed entries around here, the gutters and boards are fabric and altering them can need consent.
What happens if a rafter foot is rotten?
The rotten section is cut away and a fresh end scarfed on. A photograph and a figure reach you first, so nothing lands on the invoice unannounced. On a house of this age it is the commonest find and the biggest single swing in a price.
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Get the section and the material written down first
Thomas Hannen prices every job himself and puts the section, the profile and the material on the quote. Free visit, free written itemised quote.