What Are Fascias, Soffits
and Bargeboards?
A plain guide to the boards around the edge of your roof, with photos from our own jobs. Written by JC Property Maintenance, family-run roofers from Winterley, near Sandbach.
Walk round any house and look up at the edge of the roof. The boards and gutters you can see there have names, and each one has a job. Together, people call them the roofline.
We replace rotten rooflines with uPVC for a living, so the photos on this page come from our own jobs around Sandbach. Here is what each part is, what it does and what tends to go wrong with it.
Fascias
The fascia is the long upright board fixed across the ends of the rafters, along the bottom edge of the roof. It is the board your gutter is screwed to.
It does more than carry the gutter. Eurocell, a roofline manufacturer, describes fascias as giving a base for the guttering, holding the bottom row of roof tiles in place and keeping moisture off the rafter ends.
Older houses usually started with painted timber fascias. Newer ones, and many re-done ones, are uPVC.
Soffits
The soffit is the flat board on the underside of the roof overhang, running from the bottom of the fascia back to the wall. Stand under the eaves and look up: that is the soffit.
Its job is to close the gap. When a soffit is missing, split or coming loose, birds and wasps find their way into the roof space through it. Some soffits are vented, with small gaps that let air circulate into the roof; if you are not sure whether yours should be, ask us.
In the photo, the old soffit has been taken off so you can see the rafter ends it was hiding.
Bargeboards
On a gable end, where the wall rises to a point, the roof finishes in a sloping edge rather than a level one. The boards fixed along that sloping edge are bargeboards, sometimes called rake fascias.
They give strength and protection to the edge of the roof and hide the ends of the horizontal roof timbers on that side. Our photo shows one going up on a bungalow gable.
Just above the bargeboard, where the roof tiles stop, is the verge. It is finished either with mortar or with a dry verge system of clipped-on units. We explain the difference in dry verge explained.
Where the Guttering Fits
The gutter hangs on brackets screwed into the fascia, and carries rainwater from the roof to the downpipes. That is why the two are so closely tied: a rotten fascia cannot hold a gutter properly, and a leaking gutter soaks the board behind it.
It also means that when the fascias are replaced, the gutters have to come down. If they are sound they go back up; if not, new guttering goes up with the new boards. More on that on our gutter repairs page.
Fascia, Soffit and Bargeboard Compared
| Fascia | Soffit | Bargeboard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it is | Upright, along the bottom edge of the roof | Flat, under the overhang | Sloping, along a gable end |
| What it does | Carries the gutter and protects the rafter ends | Closes the gap between fascia and wall | Protects and hides the roof timbers on the gable |
| What goes wrong | Rot at joints and corners, gutter pulling away | Splits, loose panels, gaps that let birds in | Rot and flaking paint on the exposed edge |
| What we do | Replace or cap over in uPVC | Replace in uPVC | Replace in uPVC |
Timber or uPVC?
Timber fascias and soffits look fine while the paint holds. Once water gets behind the paint, the wood softens and rots, and it needs regular repainting to stop that happening.
uPVC does not rot and never needs painting, which is why it is what we fit. Our uPVC work comes with a 10-year guarantee.
Think yours need doing?
Start with the signs your fascias and soffits need replacing, then read whether to cap over or replace them.
For prices, see how much fascias and soffits cost, or go straight to our uPVC fascias and soffits service.
Any other questions, call 07748 025978 or use our contact page.
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Fascias, Soffits and Bargeboards: FAQ
The fascia is the upright board along the bottom edge of the roof that the gutter is fixed to. The soffit is the flat board underneath it that closes the gap back to the wall.
Bargeboards are the sloping boards fixed along the edge of a gable end, following the line of the roof. They protect and hide the ends of the roof timbers on that side of the house.
It is the everyday word for the boards and gutters around the edge of the roof: fascias, soffits, bargeboards and guttering together.
Soffits close off the underside of the roof overhang. If one is missing or broken, birds and wasps can get into the roof space, so it is worth having it looked at.
A short damaged length can sometimes be replaced on its own, and sound timber can be capped over with uPVC. Rotten boards need replacing. We tell you which after we have looked.
uPVC does not rot and never needs painting, which is why we fit it. Timber needs regular painting, and Eurocell, a uPVC manufacturer, notes it is prone to warping and rotting if it is not treated.
We do. JC Property Maintenance is a family-run, fully insured roofing business from Winterley, near Sandbach, and uPVC fascias, soffits and guttering are our main work.
Yes. All our uPVC work comes with a 10-year guarantee.
Questions About Your Roofline?
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