Soffit and Fascia FAQ

In uPVC, supplied and fitted: a mid-terrace €900 to €1,800, a semi €1,000 to €2,500, a detached house €2,000 to €4,000+. By the metre, €45 to €98. See cost by house size.

The fascia is the upright board along the roof edge that the gutter is fixed to. The soffit is the flat board underneath, closing the gap back to the wall.

If the old timber is sound, a thin capping board can go over it. If it's soft, it has to come off. See rotten fascia.

Usually not: it's algae, and it washes off uPVC. See cleaning soffit and fascia.

Flat grey or cream sheet boards on an older house can be fibre cement, which can contain asbestos. Don't drill or break them. See asbestos soffits.

Work on a house is at the reduced rate, 13.5%. Ask for a written price that includes it.

One fascia and soffit company that covers your county. One company only, not a list.

Full replacement using 18 mm structural uPVC board fixed directly to the rafter ends is almost always the better long-term job. Capping over old timber with 9 mm plastic hides any damp or soft wood at the rafter feet, and if that hidden timber rots further, the weight of rainwater or snow in the gutter can pull the fascia away from the roof.

Yes. On most houses built before the mid-2000s, the bottom 150 mm of bitumen roofing felt where it dips into the gutter has rotted away from UV light and standing water. While the old fascia and bottom row of tiles are pushed back, sliding rigid PVC eaves support trays under the existing felt stops water running down behind the new fascia.

Lack of eaves ventilation is the primary cause of wet rafters and winter condensation inside cold pitched roofs after extra fibreglass insulation is rolled out. Fitting continuous vented soffit or over-fascia vents restores a clear 10 mm to 25 mm cross-flow of air from eaves to ridge.

Bungalows are comfortably reached from low-level podium trestles, while two-storey semi-detached and detached houses use lightweight access towers or fixed scaffolding platforms along the eaves line and gable peaks so rafters, eaves trays, and box ends can be aligned safely and accurately.

Yes, smooth or woodgrain Anthracite Grey (RAL 7016) and black uPVC or aluminium fascia, soffit, and matching gutters are very popular upgrades. Dark foiled uPVC boards use heat-reflective skin technology and require closely spaced stainless steel double-nailing with a 5 mm expansion gap at joints.

A standard three-bed semi-detached house (front and back eaves) typically takes 1 to 2 working days for a full strip-out of old timber, installation of eaves trays, new 18 mm fascia, vented soffits, and new gutters and downpipes. A four-bed detached house with two gable bargeboards takes 2 to 3 days.