uPVC soffit cladding advice please

[PeterT]

Hi,
We need to get uPVC double galzing sorted out and so we have just had a rep around tonight for a look and then a quote later.
We moved onto the soffits and fascias where we have some rot which I patched up quite successfully in 2005.
There will be rot in there somewhere as it was difficult to get it all out in spite of treating it with the relevant fungicides.
When we were talking about the fascias etc the guy said that they would just clad over the existing wood. I asked about the potential for rotten wood being trapped under the uPVC. The chap suggested that I should tell the fitters where the rot was and this would be replaced with good wood before being cladded over.
My idea was to replace all of the wood etc with uPVC to avoid any issues where damp might get in between the wood and the uPVC.
I am basically looking for "fit and forget"
Is this idea of cladding over existing materials a bit of a dodge to an easier job as I do not want problems in the future.
So if there is anyone with direct relevant experience please let me know your thoughts. I am not looking for a cheap job but a good job at the right price.

Cheers, PeterT

 

[malfunkshun]

You should only cap on good, solid wood. It will, however, massively increase the cost to have it replaced instead of covered. The boards themselves are up to twice as thick (in fact from recollection it used to be cheaper to rip the old wood off, put rough sawn 2*1s on and use a cover board on top of that than it was to use 20mm thick replacement boards) the labour costs increase hugely (typical terrace house can be capped in a day, but it takes about that to properly remove wooden fascias for replacement) and the disturbance to the roof line is always a worry. If they are going to patch I would suggest making sure that they replace a good sized section each side of the problem spots too.

 

[singist]

Sorry, no direct experience but the quote that I had was very expensive because of the scaffold/tower.

It was for 16 flats (one above the other, so no higher than a semi); as far as I recall, the scaffolding was more expensive than the soffit/facia.

I think that they just didn't want the job so quoted silly prices; moved shortly after so don't know if any other quotes were any better.

 

[Dandle]

I had the soffets and facial replaces on our house last year. They took the old stuff off put some new felt under the last few roof tiles and replaced all the guttering with seemless alloy stuff for £1100. My house is a 50s three bed semi to give you an idea of size. The guttering was thrown in at a discount(the original quote was for plastic half round guttering) due to the guy getting the contracts from the window firm we used an honouring the outstanding jobs they had. Oh and it was all done off ladders except over our conservatory where they rigged some boards, the whole lot was done in two days.

 

[Chabsy]

Dont clad over the rot and lack of air to the timber underneath will cause the rafter feet to rot then the wall plate then you'll be into major repairs to your roof

 

[Von Luck]

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