Fascia, soffit and guttering replacement in Lymington
The old run comes down, the timber behind it gets checked, and the new gutter is hung to a fall rather than to a line.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Last updated
In Lymington we do fascia, soffit and guttering replacement and repair: the boards, the bargeboards, the gutter run and everything hanging off it, taken down and put back, not just cleared out.
The fault usually shows first as something you can see from the garden. A gutter that has come away from the wall at one end. A brown stripe of rot showing through the paint on a fascia. A downpipe snapped at the bend and water sheeting down the render every time it rains hard. If any of that is hanging loose or pouring water down the wall now, that is a reason to ring 07435 839745 instead of filling in the form.
Underneath those there is nearly always a second problem nobody has looked at, which is the state of the timber the whole run is screwed to. So the first thing we do is get up there and press a screwdriver into the fascia behind the gutter. If it goes in, the run is coming down whatever else happens. You get photographs of what is actually up there and a written itemised quote with the boards, the gutter, each outlet and each downpipe priced separately.
The work
What we take off, what goes back, and how it is fixed
The diagnosis. Rot in a fascia shows up as blown paint long before the board feels soft, and a bargeboard on an exposed Lymington gable usually goes first. A run sagging in the middle means the brackets are too far apart or the board has given way behind them.
A leaking joint at a union drips in one spot. Water spilling over the back edge in a downpour means the run has tipped towards the wall or the underlay is dropping behind it. Each of those has a different answer, and only one of them needs the whole roofline replacing.
The strip. Gutter down first, then the old fascia and soffit come away and the rafter feet and wall plate are finally visible. That is the moment the job is properly priced. Soft rafter ends get cut back and new timber spliced in. A felt support tray goes under the underlay so the drip lands in the gutter rather than running down behind the new board, and a tilt fillet sets the bottom course of tiles up at the right angle. Where the existing timber is genuinely sound, capping over it in plastic is a reasonable and cheaper job. Where it is not, capping is just a lid on a rotten box.
The materials. Most houses in Lymington go back in uPVC, and the gutter profile is a real choice: half round for an ordinary run, ogee where you want the squarer face, square, or deepflow where one slope drains a lot of roof into a short length and a standard section simply cannot take it. Timber can be renewed in timber and painted. Cast iron on an older elevation is often worth keeping, with the joints re-bedded and the run repainted. Aluminium is worth a look this close to the water, because it does not mind salt the way steel fixings do.
The hanging, and the water. Brackets go back at proper centres and the run is set to a fall towards the outlet. Hung dead level it looks fine from the drive and holds standing water for the rest of its life, which is what turns a new gutter green and drops it between the clips. Outlets, unions, hoppers, downpipes and shoes are renewed or refixed, and we follow the rainwater to the bottom. Plenty of downpipes in Lymington discharge onto a path, into a gully that silted up years ago, or over a soakaway that has stopped taking anything, and that is what puts the damp stain on the wall, not the gutter.
Ventilation and the nuisances. A new soffit gets vents, or an over fascia vent strip where the board is too narrow to take them, so there is a continuous air gap into the loft. Approved Document F is what sets that expectation, and a sealed eaves is the usual reason a loft is running with condensation. Birds get behind a lifted soffit and wasps into a gable end, and both are sorted before new boards go on. Moss off the tiles is what packs an outlet, so the run is cleared and checked before we leave.
How it runs
Replacing the roofline on a Pennington semi or a town terrace
Thomas looks at the boards himself, and then at what they are nailed to. A lot of Lymington's post-war and eighties houses had their timber fascia and soffit painted for decades and then capped in plastic, so what you see may be a cover over rot.
The gutter on those is usually plastic; the terraces in the old centre can still have cast iron. You get a written breakdown that prices access, every run on its own, taking down the old boards and gutter, new fascia, soffit and bargeboard where there is one, then the gutter, outlets, downpipes and disposal.
Thomas stays your contact while it is fitted. Lymington's bungalows go from a tower; semis and taller town houses get scaffold. We take the old boards right off instead of cladding over, because that is the only way to see the rafter feet. If they or the wall plate are soft, work stops until you have a photograph and a price. Paths are cleared up nightly, and every scrap of timber and PVC leaves with us.
Swapping a fascia, soffit, bargeboard or gutter for the same again is repair: no planning application, no building control. Before that, check where the house sits and whether it is listed. The historic town centre is the Lymington conservation area, and changing cast iron to plastic on a front there alters its appearance. And a listed building needs consent for works affecting its character. New Forest District Council is the planning authority, not the National Park Authority.
Cost
Boards, brackets and bays: pricing the roofline
We price the roofline run by run, not at a rate per metre, because the awkward bits are what take the time.
Height and obstacles. A Lymington bungalow eaves is low enough for a tower. An eighties detached with a conservatory along its back needs a platform built around the glass, and a terraced cottage whose eaves overhang a narrow pavement may need a licence. Under the work at height rules the platform is priced on its own line.
Rot behind the board. When a fascia has gone soft, water has usually been getting in at the eaves for years. Plastic capping would simply cover that up. We take the board off, check the rafter feet and wall plate, and price any timber repair before new boards go on.
Awkward runs. Bays, porches, corner returns, a satellite dish or a cable fixed to the board, and every outlet, hopper and downpipe add time. Hanging the new gutter with a proper fall towards its outlets matters more than the colour.
Matching materials. Plastic replacing plastic is quick. On a listed house or a street elevation in the centre, cast iron may need to go back up on its own brackets, which costs more.
Any other quote for a Lymington roofline should make clear whether the old boards are coming down or being capped, who pays if the rafter feet are rotten, and whether the downpipes and scaffold are included.
If a section has come away
A gutter hanging loose or a board that has given way
If the wind has pulled a length of gutter off and it still hangs from one end, keep people and cars clear of it and leave it be. Pulling it down usually takes the bracket and a piece of fascia with it.
Phone us instead of using the form. The first visit gets it supported and the water running into a downpipe again, so it is not pouring down the brickwork in the next spell of rain, and the proper repair is priced once we can see how far the rot goes. Work that is booked runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Should the phone go unanswered, we return the call as soon as we are free.
Worth knowing
The south west elevation is the one that fails first
Weather here comes off the Solent, and the most exposed face of almost every house in Lymington is the south west. That matters more to a roofline than to a roof, because wind and driven rain work at edges and openings rather than at the middle of a surface, and a roofline is nothing but edges.
The bargeboard on that gable, the corner return, the stop end and the joint nearest the prevailing weather are where paint blows, where water gets behind a board, and where a run starts to drop.
The salt in that wind does the rest. It goes for metal rather than plastic, so bracket screws and downpipe fixings corrode from the exposed end of a run inwards while the sheltered end of the same house still looks new. So insist on stainless steel or non ferrous fixings throughout, not just at the front, and ask for a genuine look at the south west elevation before anyone quotes the whole house, because it is common in Lymington for that one side to need a full strip while the other three only want a repair and a repaint.
Who you are dealing with
The firm that fits fascias and gutters across SO41
Our base is in Boscombe, 12.5 miles from Lymington. We cover the town, Pennington and Woodside, and out to Boldre and Everton, all under New Forest District Council. Behind the name is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. Before you book a visit in Lymington, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
The business belongs to Thomas Hannen, and he measures up your roofline and puts the price together in person. A verified Checkatrade customer marked us 10 out of 10. Both the visit and the itemised quote in writing are free.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Lymington?
Most repairs in Lymington 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 Lymington |
|---|---|
| Who decides | New Forest District Council is the planning authority for Lymington. The National Park boundary runs close by, and the Park's property map shows which side an address falls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Lymington Conservation Area. Check whether your street is inside the boundary before changing anything visible. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Lymington. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Lymington. |
Questions
Questions about fascias and guttering in Lymington
Do I need the whole house done at once?
The whole house rarely needs doing at once. It is very common in Lymington for one elevation to be finished and the rest to have years left. We price each run separately so you can do the weather side now and the rest when it suits, and we will say plainly if we think a run does not need touching.
What is the difference between capping and replacing?
Capping leaves the old timber fascia in place and screws a plastic board over the face of it. Replacing takes the timber off. Capping is fine over sound, dry timber. Over a soft board it hides the rot, seals in the damp and leaves the rafter feet doing the work.
Which gutter profile should I have?
Half round suits most Lymington houses. Ogee gives a squarer face that sits better under some fascias. Deepflow is the one to ask about if a long or steep slope is draining into a short run, because a standard section will overflow in heavy rain no matter how clean it is.
Will you take the old boards away?
Yes. The old fascia, soffit, gutter and downpipe leave with us and the site is swept at the end of each day, not the end of the job. Disposal is a line on the quote so you can see what it is.
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Get a price for your Lymington roofline
Tell us which elevation is giving trouble. Thomas comes out, gets up on the eaves and puts an itemised price in writing. The visit and the quote are free.