ARE MY END APEX BARDGEBOARD STRUCTURAL ???

[respec24]

I have just paid £2,000 for complete replacement of my upper facia,soffit & bardgeboards. They promised me the end top apex's would come off no problem, I wanted these pulled off as they had no paint left on them & the ends were badly rotton. However when the men turned up they said no way, as they were structural & I would be liable for the damage if they attempted to remove them. So they just capped them & didn't even remove the severe rot at the ends. I did eventually get just £50 off. My house is a 1993 Westbury.

* Will the apex boards really be strucural ? Or how can i tell ?

* Will the severe rot on the capped ends not sweat & spread underneath ?

* Surely building regulations ban the use of cheap, light, crap wood for external structural use !?? The house is 14 years old but all the wood including the windows are in a shocking rotten state ! It looks like its been out at sea for decades !!

* Have I been f**ked over by the contractors !?!?!

 

[big-all]

why do you say it was cheap wood at 14 years old it should have had at least a paint every 3 to 5 years

what thickness is the cladding 9mm is cladding 18mm is structural

if its 9mm the timber underneath should be replaced with solid timber the odd foot here or there won't matter

 

[prod]

the bargeboards aren`t usually stuctural, but the undercloaking which supports the mortar the tiles are bedded on can be nailed to the top to stop it slipping (assuming it isn`t a dry verge) so to replace bargeboards may require removal of the verge tiles;a lot more work and probably not included in the quote ,at this point less scrupulous tradesmen give a cock and bull excuse take the money and run also rotten timber should be replaced

 

[noseall]

prod is spot on.

the cloak should be fixed to the 'ladder set' or to a ladder end rafter, but not all roofers do. if there is a barge there to fix to then why not.

so, although not structural you could damage the cloak by removing the barge board.