Fascia, soffit and guttering replacement in Lilliput

Replacing fascias and soffits. We strip the old boards instead of capping over them. Capping hides rotten timber under a sleeve of plastic and the rot carries on. With the old boards off we can see the rafter feet and the wall plate, cut back and splice anything rotten, and fix new uPVC fascia and soffit boards with stainless screws. Where the timber is sound and you want to keep it painted, we can repair and refix it instead.

The eaves detail. The fascia is only as good as the tile edge above it. We fit an eaves felt support tray so the bottom of the old felt no longer rots and sags into the gutter, set the tilt fillet so the bottom course of tiles sits at the right angle, and make sure the drip at the eaves lands inside the gutter, not behind the back of the gutter.

Ventilation. Replacing soffits is the right moment to add soffit vents or an over fascia vent. A loft with insulation packed into the eaves and no air gap runs damp, and condensation in the roof space is a common reason timbers rot from the inside.

Guttering. We fit half round, square, ogee or deepflow profiles in plastic or aluminium, set to a proper fall towards each outlet, with a bracket at the spacing the maker specifies. Where an old cast iron system survives and is sound, we can refurbish it instead of replacing it, which suits an older Lilliput house. Leaking joints, a dropped section or a downpipe with a split shoe can often be put right on their own.

Bargeboards and verges. On a gable the bargeboard does the fascia's job and weathers faster because it faces the rain. We replace it with the verge above in the same visit.

When we would talk you out of it. Painted timber that is sound but peeling needs paint, not replacement. We will tell you if that is all it is.

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 Lilliput house with a drive and a clear run along the eaves can be done from a tower, while a frontage on Sandbanks Road with the pavement and bus stops below needs scaffold and planning around the traffic. 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.

We cover Lilliput and all of BH14, along Sandbanks Road and Lilliput Road to Evening Hill and Salterns, and on to Whitecliff, Canford Cliffs and Penn Hill. BCP Council is the planning and building control authority, and our base in Boscombe is about five 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 Lilliput, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Lilliput 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.