Roofline

This is normally the first question that our customers would like to answer, although there is no simple “right or wrong” answer to this as and both approaches will provide great looking, long lasting results provided that they are employed correctly in the correct circumstances.

The first thing to consider is the condition of the current roofline. If the existing wood is badly rotten, then in the first instance this normally points towards a complete replacement being the better option. BUT the only way to ascertain the true condition of the existing wood is to inspect each elevation on ladders to see exactly how much wood, if any, is actually rotten. This is very difficult to ascertain from ground level, however we have come across many instances when homeowners have been advised by someone looking from below that “we can’t repaint this for you, a lot of the wood is rotten”. This seems to be because the painter knows they probably can’t justify the extra cost of all the time required to prepare the wood for repainting.

On closer inspection, we often find is that the wood is actually perfectly sound, but the areas that suffer the worst from the weather have flaking paint and exposed wood. Flaking paint and exposed wood does not constitute rot. In many cases, the wood is perfectly sound and the customer can therefore decide between complete replacement, or to cap over the existing timbers.

It will always be more expensive to completely remove the old wooden fascia and soffits and then replace them. The reason for this is that there is a lot of extra work required to remove and dispose of the old materials, and this will take more time on site. It is also often the case that some rows of tiles will also need to be removed and then put back to allow us access to work on all areas effectively. In addition, the replacement products are slightly more expensive. The reason for this is because the cap over fascia is around 10mm thick as it is designed to cloak the existing timber whereas the full replacement fascia is 18mm thick.

Quite simply, no. In actual fact, a 10mm cap over product fixed over existing sound timber will actually be stronger than an 18mm complete replacement fascia.

This is absolutely untrue. In our experience, many customers are led down the complete replacement route as quite simply it makes the job more expensive and allows the company doing the work to earn more profit. This is particularly the case when a customer has been ill-advised that existing timbers are “rotten”, even when they are not. In reality, when the cap over approach is employed, it is only the front and bottom faces of the existing timbers that are capped, leaving the top and back sides free to breathe. This will ensure that any moisture in the old boards will gradually disappear over time once the installation is complete.

Yes. We are Freefoam registered roofline installers, and as such we offer all our customers the industry leading guarantee of 10 years on all coloured products and 50 years on all white products. This is the same for both cap over and full replacement materials.

The PVC products we use are designed to be almost maintenance free and will certainly last just as long as a wooden installation, but without the cyclical repainting and maintenance. All PVC roofline will require is an occasional wipe down with a damp cloth. Our products carry an industry leading guarantee and even contain Titanium Dioxide, the naturally occurring oxide of Titanium, which is found in sun creams. This protects our products against damage by UV Light from the sun over the years. All of our PVC products are also 100% recyclable, so when the do eventually reach the end of their life, they can be fully recycled to make brand new PVC products. PVC can be recycled this way up to 20 times over.