Guttering , fascia and sofits - where to start/recommendations in suffolk?

[k8_jose]

Hi there,

We’ve recently moved into a listed 16th century farmhouse in Suffolk and are starting to address a long list of repairs. First up is the guttering that seems a mix of old decaying cast iron and blocked / knackered plastic that’s pouring water down the walls or overflowing.
The fascia and Sofits are also rotten/knackered in lots of places.
We’re unsure who to call on for help here - a gutter company to look at the blockages or a roofing company to overhaul the system and do the fascia and sofits too…
I *think* if we’re just repairing or replacing less than 50% of gutters like for like we don’t need consent…
Any thoughts or recommendations of local tradespeople would be much appreciated! We’re in suffolk near Woodbridge
Thank you!

 

[Flyfisher]

Firstly, it's good to hear that the leaking/overflowing guttering is at the top of your list of things to be fixed. Definitely the right priority (assuming the roof itself isn't leaking!)

We’re unsure who to call on for help here - a gutter company to look at the blockages or a roofing company to overhaul the system and do the fascia and sofits too…

Personally, I wouldn't be worrying too much about trying to find a specialist guttering or roofing company and would seek out a competent general builder with some sympathy for older buildings. Preferably someone local and ideally with recommendations from other local(ish) customers.

The photos don't really look too scary - I've seen far worse! - and it looks to me to be a relatively straightforward case of removing the existing rainwater goods to allow access to the fascia and soffit timbers for repair and replacement as necessary, then repainting before replacing the guttering and downpipes. Any blockages would be (should be) sorted out in the course of that work, so I wouldn't regard it as a separate job really. It's all part of renewing the rainwater goods in general, for which solid fixings (ie the woodwork) are as important as the gutters themselves.

I'm not sure about any "50% rule" for consent when doing such like-for-like repairs, but that wouldn't weigh too heavily on my mind. For a start, if it's really like-for-like, the work will be 'invisible' but, far more importantly, stopping the leaking and overflowing guttering will be a positive benefit to the building and prevent all manner of problems in the future, so I can't imagine anyone complaining.

 

[fernicarry]

Agree with @Flyfisher much of that woodwork doesn't look to be in *terrible* condition. Ready for some TLC undoubtedly but better than a lot of what I'm dealing with at the moment. Parts of my fascias and soffits are just wet spongy masses. That's what happens when you get someone in and they use modern redwood from the builder's yard with inadequate prep and a high street paint system. In my defense that was before I joined this forum. I've ended up tearing down most of what they did as its faster to do a complete replacement after wasting easily a week cutting out rotten bits and templating repair parts. And that was supposed to be the good gable, I have one more thats mostly fallen off and another about to fall off...

So that would be my advice, insist on a reasonably durable timber for the repairs/replacement, larch or douglas, and insist that its properly prepped with a quality paint system like Jotun (Visir/Demidekk). Its time consuming but you don't want to be replacing it all in less than 10 years like I am. On the flip side some of the roofline woodwork at the back of this building is quite probably original and in almost perfect nick after 160 years, thats how stark the difference is with modern timber. The original boards are also more fancy with a corner bead detail at the bottom of the fascia which I've reproduced for the small repair sections needed. If there are similar buildings in your area see what inspiration you can get from them to make a bit more of a feature. Also put a lead cap at the top of the gable where the two fascias meet to stop water running between them and down the inside.

Are your blockages in the gutters and downpipes or below ground? Former should be simple to resolve but be prepared to find horrors below ground. We have had to replace almost all of the clay drainage pipes here as most were collapsed or completely choked. We also had a couple of downpipes that were essentially just stood on the earth with no arrangement to take away the water. Insist that all downpipes have a "shoe" at the botton emptying into a gully so that you can rod below ground if needed without having to dismantle the downpipe and dig up the ground under it (one of this week's many delightful activiites for me...).

Not particularly glamorous work but worth the effort to do it well.

 

[LadyArowana]

Our main contractor dealt with a small quantity of these similar issues as part of the main renovation, it wasn’t something we specifically detailed on our listed building application as it was just bits and pieces discovered as other things were being done and only a case of doing a new version of what had been there.