ScoobyChris

I'm just tidying up my mid-terrace house ready for putting on the market and I'm looking to replace our gutters, fascias and soffits for some uPVC ones. Had a roofing chap round who quoted the best part of 1500 quid to do the work!

As I can reach it with a stepladder, I thought I'd have a go at DIY'ing it and had a look on Screwfix for all the bits I'd need. I found the fascias and guttering come to about 200 quid, but I can't find any references to soffits on there? Anyone find them?

Also, what's the best way of attaching them - I'd probably opt for screws, but maybe bashing a few nails in would be easier?

Thanks for any hints, tips or caveats

Chris

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JPreston

What are the odds, I was just looking at something similar:

Fascias, Soffits, Cladding in White, Black, Mahogany, Rosewood, Golden Oak

Apparently you fix them by 'secret nailing' ie nail the tongue such that the groove covers the nail head. I suppose you could screw them, and use those plastic screw caps instead if you wanted to.

cheezemonkhai

Chris, why replace it all, why not just get it all cleaned and painted in a nice new coat of gloss (I'm assuming yours are wooden).

The guttering is a slightly different issue, but unless that is shot, i'd just make sure it is all free flowing and been cleaned up well. (a mild CIF etc works very well on white PVCu).

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ScoobyChris

The reason for replacing is to get them inside the house (and the bloody neighbours have had their's done so our house looks a bit naff). Guttering is shot and needs replacing anyway

Chris

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cheezemonkhai

Thats fine for the guttering, but properly maintained wooden facias and soffits look just fine, are just fine and the plastic ones can cause a lot of problems if not done properly.

Often they just put the plastic over the wood, or cut some wood off and cover it leaving no ventilation. That means rot, but also will be picked up by a survey.

If it was me i'd just get a long ladder out with some gloss paint. Even if you got a quick scaff for a weekend you are talking £100 aas opposed to £1000

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JMK2

Agreed.


Will look good with a coat of paint. UPVC ones tend to hide the wood ones anyway.

The new house has them - I'm dreading to think what is underneath.

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franv8

I looked into this last year (and had it done - before I sold the house).

If yours are in wood, and in fair to good condition (not rotten, or having missed chunks of paint for a time) then cheapest option, if you're prepared to do it and have access, is prepare by cleaning, then sanding and painting. But you'll probably need to repaint every 3-5 years.

Mine were a pain to get to, and I had a chalet style house, so I had pretty much more than twice the amount a 'normal' house had, and decided plastic was the way forward (think it helps to 'update' a house in the eyes of potential buyers, although I can well understand the preference for well cared for wod by some people).

If it's being done in plastic (by you or someone else) - if your boards are in good condition, then you can 'overclad' them with relevant UPVC pieces, people I spoke to about it said it wasn't necessarily the bodge it first sounds.

Alternatively (and best way) is to remove all the old boards, then it is normal to affix (with screws) (wooden) 'sprockets' to the vertical sides of the roof joists, these are rectangular wood pieces onto which the fascia boards are screwed. They stop the scres going into the end grain of the joists if you'd just screwed these. They also allow the mounting faces to be easily leveled before screwing on the facias and soffits.

I had these done by a roofing company (not a 'fascias and soffits co), who were more credible than some of the people I let through my front door to quote, and about half the price. I had some quotes of £5000, whereas I got it done for less than two. I worked out material cost at about £600, and it was about three days labour to get mine done, I'd have thought for yours, from an honest contractor, would be less then a grand all in (I'm not in the trade so don't attach too much value to this). Just a guess.

So, in summary -

Ultimate job absolutely replaces wooden boards with plastic - new build will be the same

If I were getting it done again, I'd search out a roofing contractor - more knowledgable, credible and value for money.

Lummox

Exactly the same as us then. I had a chap around for a quote as they knocked on my door one evening. First quote ws £2.5k (we live in a mid terrace house so only front and back). After I got up of the floor he got it down to £1k..lol. I told him to sling his hook at which point he got the **** with me basically having a go for wasting his time, and they called me, and they come into my house.

Does need doing though as any heavy rainfall overfills the guttering to one side and im worried about the splashing water coming up above the damp course at the bottom of my exterior wall. Trouble is im scared of heights and wont get up there.

If anyone in the Northants area can help me out

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Kandy

Screwfix is very expensive for this type of stuff, try Deeplas UPVC Fascia, Cappit, Soffit, Cladding,
or find a local specialist supplier.

If capping use 9mm fascia, if replacing use 16mm.
You fix it with stainless steel upvc headed pins! (sold from above site).
Joint coverslips etc. are glued. Leave fairly generous gaps under coverslips at joints - upvc expands/contracts a lot (creaks + goes wavey if you don't allow room to move). Slightly oversize holes for the pins/not banging in too hard helps too.

heresmo

FAO Scooby-Chris - Don't do anything off a high ladder unless you are used to that. It's inevitable that you will overstretch, and even painting can set up a swaying motion (which is more exaggerated at the top). It's only because I could do an arabesque (balletic movement) to rebalance my weight that stopped me from finishing up in a heap in next door's garden, when I was doing even a simple job. Plus the ladder can easily slide at the bottom, and someone holding it will not be strong enough to hold the sway if it starts to go.

IOW hire a small scaffolding tower if you are intending to do it yourself. Just my IMO - others might offer other views of course. A friend used to run a rope around the newel post at the top of the staircase and around his waist (like climbing a mountain), for example.


Re guttering, M-03, if a house has recently been re-roofed with tiles, a lot of silt can wash into the gutter until the tiles settle, which is too heavy for rain to wash out from the gutter. Also, new guttering (if plastic) might have been put up with too few brackets (spans too long). Also, the fall might not be correct. Also, the hopper/dowpipe might be blocked. The usual one after cleaning out a gutter is to take a kettle of water (not heavy) up the ladder and see what happens to it when emptied into the gutter.

Re water tipping over the gutter, it's not a bad idea to put a piece of plywood (1 metre high e.g.) at ground level leant against the wall, both to stop water from hitting the wall at the bottom, plus stopping water from splashing up above the damp course. (Properly sandbagged in place or at least fixed sufficiently in case children or pets are around until the problem is fixed properly.

Regards
Mo

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Goochie

Chris - some soffits are aesbestos - depending on the age of your house.

ScoobyChris

Mo, thanks for the concern, but as I hinted at, my house is mid terrace with the upstairs in the roof so I can actually touch the soffits without a ladder. I'll only need a step ladder to do the guttering, hence me considering a DIY job on it ... we that and the fact it's only 2x 4m runs

Thanks for all the advice people! I was just looking at cladding as that's what the neighbours have done, but I think I'll try cleaning, sanding and painting the wood as it's in reasonably nick, and do the guttering as that's necessary

Chris

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heresmo

Where do you get that from Goochie (or is this our starter for ten LOL). A neighbour had his garage professionally removed (as is required by law if I'm not mistaken) and it turned out it wasn't asbestos after all.

Clearly it was used in many constructions. Seemingly the lower ground levels of the White House (from a video I watched) are literally dripping with it falling off the ceilings.

Mo

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ScoobyChris

It's a mid-70's house so I'm guessing it will just be wood, but either way, I'm not planning on removing the existing ones so shouldn't be a prob

Chris

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Goochie

Mo, at work we had to have all the Artex ceilings checked as a requirment of the insurance, to see if they contained aesbestos.

Chatting to the engineer who was taking the samples he said its in all sorts of things that people dont expect.

Sofits on 1930's houses being on of those.

He also mentioned that there has been a marked rise in the number of non-smokers being diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of the DIY boom in the 80's/90's that saw thousands of Artex ceilings and textured walls being scraped off by home owners.

heresmo

FAO ScoobyChris

It's not a bad idea renovating existing wooden soffit boards if they are sound IMO as there are very different qualities of PVC, as I've learned from what can be used for windows. Meaning that some can become acid-etched and become pitted and dirty very quickly just from what's in the atmosphere. That's irrelevant though isn't it?

There is some sort of rubberised paint one can buy for soffits (after cleaning, preparation etc). Unfortunately I don't have a link. Someone else might though, as it might help to avoid having to repaint quite as often.

Regards
Mo

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ScoobyChris

So long as I only have to paint it once in the next 8 months, I don't really mind how long it last for!

Chris

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heresmo

I played that game (scraping off Artex from a 30's home). In truth I was on a hide into nothing as it takes forever and one never finishes up with a decent surface so I have learned that it is better just to have it replastered (smoothed over) in the first place. We learn from experience. I think it came from my desire to get rid of the "17 layers of paint/wallpaper" etc, because, like a car, it is your pride and joy. In truth, it isn't, it's a roof over your head until you move. That said, I'd never live in one or leave one that wasn't safe.

Regards
Mo

Edit PS: Do you have any knowledge as to how to detect asbestos or whether plastering/painting over "seals it in"? This is an academic question; I'm just curious. Ta, Mo

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Goochie

As far as I'm aware there is no easy way to detect it at home. We had samples taken from each area to be tested in a lab. Aesbestos is fairly harmless until you stay breaking it up so platereing over the top woul dbe fine. However, if you have a deep textured ceiling you have to consider the considerable mass of plaster that will be required to fill the depth of the texture.

We had our bedroom ceiling pulled down and new plasterboard put up - obviously this isnt suitable if you have a loft and room full of stuff as it made a lot of mess (at the time, our house was empty).

I read on another foum today that someone had a suspended ceiling put in to hide artex - particularly useful as they also had numerous small downlights fitted as the sam time and the wiring for these was a doddle as a result.

FWIW I would think a PVA solution would be enough to seal the surface, although I would consider painting directly onto it without any worries. As I say, its when you break into it that there is a concern (fitting lights etc.)

robmawer

However...if it were to break up as a result of the ceiling cracking/collapsing or a fire, it'll be much much messier than getting it disposed off properly in the first place...
That said, when they removed it from my loft they still managed to make a right mess, destroying two ceilings and cracking a third in the process...though fortunately the asbestos wasn't in the ceilings!


Rob.

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heresmo

Again, curious. A false ceiling would sure surely have to have been a good 2 foot down to allow at least crawling space to fix the electrics, yet over a new false ceiling (which probably was not intended to carry person weight), must mean they'd have had to go down through the original ceiling anyway? I guess 2 ft would be possible with Victorian 12 ft ceilings; I don't know about "modern height ceilings" though.

I'm just asking questions now is all.

Regards
Mo

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Goochie

Why would a false ceiling have to be 2ft down from the original ? a 2" gap would provide ample space for such light fittings and cables without giving any noticable reduction in height.

robmawer

When I've seen it done they made light fitting holes and cabled as they went...like you say, it's only a couple of inches lower than the original ceiling...


Rob.

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heresmo

Erm... They have to be fitted within that space, let alone sorting the wires from above to the new ceiling. Or go down through the original ceiling (perhaps re-read?) Transformers for downlighters are deeper than 2" let alone the space needed to fit them. This is another starter isn't it? Or maybe not. Maybe more knowledge should be gained before anyone attempts this sort of thing, whether by DIY or to find out what might be involved before asking for professional quotes.

I don't know how this compares with the other website you are visiting - perhaps you can too and fro since all knowledge is good if it keeps us safe.

Regards
Mo

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Goochie

Mo - you can get mains voltage downlights

Lighting Direct - Lights, lighting, sockets, switches & dimmers for indoor, outdoor & bathroom.

for example.

In this instance I would battern the ceiling, cable clip the cables to the sides of the batterns then fix the board to them. Making cut-outs and fitting the lights as I worked my way over the room. Obviously ensuring ample slack cable was left in the void between the visible ceiling and the hidden one.

You could also use 12v lamps and run them all from one transformer (or a pair) located somewhere else.