Gaps between soffits and facias

[jsoap]

Hello,
currently having the old wooden facias and asbestos soffits removed and replaced with upvc, on my 60's bungalow..
There are a few places where there are gaps between the soffit and facia that are large enough to allow insects in. In one place there is a horizontal gap between the soffit and the facia, of about 10mm for maybe a meter. When I suggested that this was not right, the response was that the original rafter foot was longer then the others, and that it could not be cut down, because it meant cutting the all, removing tiles etc., which was not part of the job.
Similarily where there is a 5mm vertiical gap between the soffit and the top of the outer wall, this was because the wall is not level. In a few other places holes exist because narrower soffit boards are being used, so where the brickwork is chipped a hole now appears. Again this is fault of the brickwork and not the install.
My view is that there were no gaps with the old system, so the new install should be sound also. Am I being unreasonable, or is this the typical stanndard install?

 

[geraldthehamster]

I take it you didn't have this problem with the original fascia and soffits? The cheap uPVC gremlin strikes again.

 

[jsoap]

Looking at it again I wonder have they used the wrong fascia. The facia drops about an inch below the soffit.

 

[catlad]

I hope it was cheap because they didn't put much effort in make it look good.

 

[Mw Roofline]

Looking at it again I wonder have they used the wrong fascia. The facia drops about an inch below the soffit.

That's pretty awful. When completely removing the fascias and soffits you should remove the first row of pan tiles or the first two rows of slates. Otherwise you'll never be able to lift and nail the fascia up properly which is what's happened here.
The soffit is supposed to rebate into that groove just above the black part of that lip.

 

[jsoap]

That's pretty awful. When completely removing the fascias and soffits you should remove the first row of pan tiles or the first two rows of slates. Otherwise you'll never be able to lift and nail the fascia up properly which is what's happened here.
The soffit is supposed to rebate into that groove just above the black part of that lip.

I checked the last row of tiles, and I can see that they droop about 1cm below the natural line of the roof, so that would confirm that the tiles were not lifted.
I thought that the inside of the fascia looked a little odd, given that there was a rebate there. Of course the rebate would help to hide any alignment problems with the rafter feet.
The job was not meant to cheap at ~£83 inc per meter and now I just wonder is the work actually fit for purpose?

 

[Mw Roofline]

Well it will just stay there, probably won't move and is doing the job. It just doesn't look right. The bottom row should be the same angle as the rest (slates) or it should kick down a little (large pan tiles)
We charge 180 pm with scaffold.

 

[jsoap]

Thanks for the reply.
I've now taken the time to inspect the work, and this is waht I found

Instead of locating the soffit board into the rebate at the bottom of the fascia, there is a row of single nails into the rafter feet. The other end of the soffit board rests on top of the outer wall. There are many long gaps of 5mm-15mm between the soffit and fascia. Also there are gaps of 5mm between the top of the wall and the soffit, due to loose mortar not being cleaned away. The only thing holding the soffit down on the wall side is sealant on the top of the window frames.
The fascia is fixed to rafter feet, again with a single row of nails. There is no felt overlapping the fascia - presumably the old felt disintegrated.
OK the cost was not at the top of the range (no scaffolding needed) , but the quality of work seems to be lower than a budget job.

 

[Mw Roofline]

Sorry mate it won't last. Single row of pins, no felt and soffit siliconed to the windows is awful.

 

[geraldthehamster]

uPVC lends itself to bodging. It's not a building material. I'd rip it all off and have it done properly in timber.

Cheers
Richard

 

[jsoap]

Sorry mate it won't last. Single row of pins, no felt and soffit siliconed to the windows is awful.

Yes, and the more I look at it the more problems I find. There was no attempt to trim the fascia corner joints, so I've got gaps at the corners half-filled with black silicone. Even found some of the nails don't actually go into the rafter foot.
Have had 2 other roofers around, neither are prepared to take the job on.
My fault for not educating myself before the job started, and not paying attention when alarm bells started to ring.

 

[Mw Roofline]

Well not wanting to advertise but if no one wants to touch it We can do it for you but were booked up till October.

 

[jsoap]

Thanks for the advice & offer. The original "builders" stormed off when I questioned the finish. If they had of patched up the bits that I had initially noticed they probably would have got away with it. Anyway the contractor has admitted that the job was duff, and has another builder lined up to fix it up. Since I know what needs to be done, hopefully it will be done correctly this time.