Cost of replacing Soffits, Facias and Bargeboards

[Joolz89]

Hello,

I am after some advice from those in the know or from those who have had this kind of work done to their property.

My current fascias, soffits and gable end barge boards are wooden and are in a poor state in some areas. I would like to get them replaced with UPVC and not over clad.

My house is a 3 bedroom semi Detached with a Conservatory at the back. The run of the front and back boards is a total of 10M, the barge boards on the gable end is approx 11m.

I have had three quotes so far, one for £650, one for £850 and one for £1400. There seems to be a big difference for the same amount of work and materials? I am on a budget however I don't want to go for the cheapest and then have problems down the line however he is a local contractor and offers a 10 year guarantee on his works.

Finally anyone know of a good roofing contractor in the North Yorks / North east area?

Thanks.

 

[Joolz89]

Well the plot thickens! Had another quote this afternoon from a local company for £570.

Spoke to the Rep at length, this includes removal and fitting of the new UPVC facias, soffits and barge boards. He said they used 18mm for the Facias and 9mm for the soffit boards which if my research is correct is ok for a full replacement. Also said that they take the first two rows of tiles back and replace any damage to the noggins, ends etc. also they give a 10 year guarantee on their work and their materials.

Seems to be a very good price?

 

[Cumbrianroofer30yrsexp]

The £1400 seems about right to me,id be very wary of the other quotes.Its probabbly not what you want to hear though.Also many guatantees are not worth the paper they are written on.

 

[Regencyroofingipswich]

I agree with Cumbrianroofer, quality comes first.

upvc fascias are easy to make look good from the ground but there is more to it than just nailing on a bit of plastic.

Ensure you are getting a good quality non fade plastic used and make sure the felt is replaced at eaves with new comb filler used (if needed).

Ensure the tiles are still sitting at the correct height to run into the gutter, often when changing a fascia board the spacing from the first batten to the edge of the fascia will change so usually the first batten will be taken off and replaced.

Make sure the fascia boards are double nailed onto the end of each rafter to avoid twist in the heat and get your tradesman to check the gutter/downpipe for leaks and a good outward flow before you hand over your money.

You will rarely get a good job without a scaffold, many 'ladder jobs' i have seen tend to be poorly done

Check you are getting all of the above or it is not a proper job, £1200-1400 sound about right.

 

[Mw Roofline]

Well the plot thickens! Had another quote this afternoon from a local company for £570.

Blimey, they can come and work for me if they are doing full replacement for that price

 

[Joolz89]

Well had a rep from a bigger Coy out today and even thou I wasn't happy with his quoted price was happy with his breakdown of what was to be done and how it would be done.

The first quote was for 2K and he stated that due to the requirement for contract scaffolding to get over the conservatory this is why it was the price given, however within 5mins he had dropped to £1850 after I said it was outside of my budget.

This is for strip off of all old wood, replacement UPVC, dry verge on the gable end of the house. Also he he went through the process which involved removing the first two rows of tiles adding batten to the rafter ends to be able to pin the soffit board from underneath, top air venting, replacement felt and then the barge boards and dry verge fitting and a bird comb.

I liked his patter and presentation however this price is out of my budget of £1500

Will have to have a long think about this one!

 

[seldbuildnovicebelfast]

hey Joolz,

i have a few questions.

you say theres a conservatory at the back so ipresume you have a party wall built between yourself and the neighbour.Have they a conservatory too? and is the wall stable and flat enough to set a walkway(planks) on to reach over your conservatory?how wides your conserv?

also,you say your house is 10m in total i take it then your house width at the front and back is 5m each then? does that include your eaves as they hang over where your gable finishes??

the reason i ask you is i used to sell this stuff for many years and theres alot of factors to determine whe pricing.

if it was me i would insist on a full replacement of all timber(fasicas,box ends and eaves included,soffit i wouldnt worry about as its not structural so you could just have it knocked out and a new baten screwed to house wall for soffit.the thickness of thefascia wouldnt concern me as its not the thickness that keeps it white,its the skin on top. 12mm is sufficient to sit ontop off replacement timber. warrantys.....pot luck i would say although i would go for a 20yr plus one which is from the board manufacturer......bearing in mind it has to be installed to their spec which is another can of worms!!

cost...well, here for a house that size if im right with the 5m front inc replacement timbers etc would be 550 to 700 quid vat fitting the lot. thats a good price for the company,salesman and yourself.

 

[Joolz89]

Both me and my neighbours have conservatory's on the back of the house with a very small gap between the two. Both have polycarbonate roofs so laying boards across would not be an option. The conservatory is about 4.5M wide.

All who have come out have said the conservatory would make the job difficult at the back which is a fair one due to the restricted access.

The house is 5M front, 5M back and the gable end is approx 11M.

 

[Cumbrianroofer30yrsexp]

hey Joolz,

i have a few questions.

you say theres a conservatory at the back so ipresume you have a party wall built between yourself and the neighbour.Have they a conservatory too? and is the wall stable and flat enough to set a walkway(planks) on to reach over your conservatory?how wides your conserv?

also,you say your house is 10m in total i take it then your house width at the front and back is 5m each then? does that include your eaves as they hang over where your gable finishes??

the reason i ask you is i used to sell this stuff for many years and theres alot of factors to determine whe pricing.

if it was me i would insist on a full replacement of all timber(fasicas,box ends and eaves included,soffit i wouldnt worry about as its not structural so you could just have it knocked out and a new baten screwed to house wall for soffit.the thickness of thefascia wouldnt concern me as its not the thickness that keeps it white,its the skin on top. 12mm is sufficient to sit ontop off replacement timber. warrantys.....pot luck i would say although i would go for a 20yr plus one which is from the board manufacturer......bearing in mind it has to be installed to their spec which is another can of worms!!

cost...well, here for a house that size if im right with the 5m front inc replacement timbers etc would be 550 to 700 quid vat fitting the lot. thats a good price for the company,salesman and yourself.

550-700 omg you might as well work for someone else and not have the aggro of running your own company.I mean come on if your going to work for yourself the idea is to make some money.Now there needs to be a happy medium ie providing a top rate service at fair price,fair price not pea nuts.If your going to work for your self you want to clear £300 per day minimum otherwise whats the point?PS,Have you seen how much they charge in a garage these days?are we not as skilled as them?do we work as hard as them?did we not need to train to do what we do?All this has a cost.If you work for that your doing yourself and your trade a disservice.

 

[htgeng]

550-700 omg you might as well work for someone else and not have the aggro of running your own company.I mean come on if your going to work for yourself the idea is to make some money.Now there needs to be a happy medium ie providing a top rate service at fair price,fair price not pea nuts.If your going to work for your self you want to clear £300 per day minimum otherwise whats the point?PS,Have you seen how much they charge in a garage these days?are we not as skilled as them?do we work as hard as them?did we not need to train to do what we do?All this has a cost.If you work for that your doing yourself and your trade a disservice.

I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment. I did my fascias UPVC of a similar size and the bill for materials were around £500 although I did replace the guttering too. I had full scaffolding access for the soffits and that was around £300. If I was paying myself a wage I'd have earnt around £2.5 an hour at the lower rates quoted above! If you pay anyone else that to do a job for you, it will be shoddy!

My feeling is that the £500-ers will be an estimate and will turn out more expensive once they take the boards off and end up costing the guy more like the £1500. They could also be cladding over the wood and would say they never agreed to strip out the wood. Many in the trade play that sort of trick. I'd rather be upfront and give a realistic figure at the outset when viewing any work. Of course with this OP, I wouldn't be given the job