What are fascias and soffits?
The fascia is the upright board across the ends of the rafters, and the gutter screws to it. The soffit is the flat board underneath, closing the gap back to the wall. Soffits are usually vented, so air can get into the loft.
Soffit and fascia: the difference in one line
The fascia stands up. The soffit lies flat.
If you can see the board from across the road, it is the fascia. If you have to stand under the eaves and look up, it is the soffit.
Both were timber on most houses, painted every few years. Most are UPVC now, either new boards or a UPVC skin capped over the old timber.
What each one does
The fascia closes the rafter ends off against weather and birds, and it carries the gutter. Every bracket on the gutter is screwed into it, so a soft fascia means a sagging gutter.
The soffit closes the underside of the overhang. It is what stops birds and wasps getting into the eaves.
The soffit also carries the vents. Air goes in there, travels up under the roof and out at the ridge. Without it the loft holds moisture and the underlay drips.
How to tell yours are gone
Paint blistering or peeling in sheets, and bare grey timber underneath.
Timber soft enough to push a screwdriver into. That is rot, and paint will not stop it.
Green or black growth along the board, which means it is staying wet.
A gutter sagging, pulling away from the wall, or dripping at a joint that will not hold.
Gaps at the corners, or a soffit board dropping at one end.
Birds going in and out under the eaves in spring.
Damp on the inside wall of an upstairs room, high up near the ceiling.
Capping over, or taking the old boards off
Capping means a thin UPVC skin fitted over the timber that is already there. It only works where the timber behind it is sound and dry.
Full replacement means the old boards come off, the rafter ends are checked, and new UPVC goes on.
Capping over rotten timber hides the rot and traps the damp behind plastic. It looks right for a year or two and then the gutter starts to move.
Where the timber has gone, full replacement is the honest job.
What gets done at the same time
The gutter has to come off to reach the fascia, so guttering and downpipes are usually changed with it.
Cladding, apex boards and bargeboards are the same material and the same access.
It is also the moment to add vents to the soffit if the loft has none, because the boards are off anyway.
If your fascias and soffits have gone, replacing them in UPVC, with the guttering and downpipes, is work we do. Our page on it is linked further down, under The work this is about. Estimates and advice are free, so ring 07477 536 273.
Common questions
- What is the difference between a fascia and a soffit?
- The fascia is vertical and the soffit is horizontal. The fascia is the board you see from the street, fixed across the rafter ends, with the gutter screwed to it. The soffit is the board you see when you stand under the eaves and look up.
- What is a bargeboard?
- A bargeboard is the sloping board at the gable end of a roof, running up the pitch. It does the same closing job as a fascia, but on the slope rather than along the eaves. Where two bargeboards meet at the top, the piece finishing the point is the apex board.
- How much does it cost to replace guttering in the UK?
- We do not publish a figure for it. Four things turn it. The length of the run. The height of the house. How the work is reached. Whether the fascia behind it has gone too. A run above a conservatory is harder to reach than an open side wall. Free estimates and free advice, so ring 07477 536 273 and ask.
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