Damage to soffits - need replacing?

deeobrien

Hi All,

I moved into the house a year ago and I'm only now looking at the gutters/fascias/soffits (a lockdown inspired clean :-) ). Its a dormer bungalow. The house is 25 years old. The Guttering/Fascias are white. I think probably Aluminium but I'm not sure. They sound more 'tinny' when I tap them.

Gutters:
The gutters are white but have green stains on them, algae I guess. Pressure washing with water wasn't enough so I guess I'll have to get some detergent for the pressure washer. There is only a short run of guttering on the front and back of the house so I was thinking of replacing it (one of the joints is bad as well and a badly previously painted chipping downpipe) but that lead me to look at the Soffitts and Fascia. Reckoned there was no point putting new guttering on old fascia.

Soffits:
There are black marks on the edges/joints. It almost seems like surface damage rather than dirt. Its rough/raised when I run my figure over it and doesn't appear to scrap off (didn't want to try too hard in case I'd cause damage).

soffit-damage.jpeg

gutter-soffits.jpeg

The roof of the porch is the same material and has even more of the marks (damage?)

porch-roof.jpeg

The Fascias don't seem to show much damage (that I can tell anyway).
I know its probably hard to tell from the photos but is this damage typical for Soffits? Should I be looking to replace them?

Deirdre

Doop

There really is no need to replace them other than aesthetics, which is your call, but its a bit of work and expense for what I would say is little gain.

I'm sure if you really wanted you could clean them down and investigate some sort of appropriate spray paint to touch them up?

deeobrien

That could be an idea. I was wondering about painting over the damaged paint alright. I might try a small hidden section and see how it works out.

tedimc

Just my 0.2c but, its amazing the difference fresh guttering and fascia will make, especially if you have repainted recently.

I would be wary of painting, it's a lot of hassle (heights, etc.) and may not turn out right - but perhaps somebody here could advise if they have done it. Also - not sure of the expected life of guttering in general, but you may need to consider replacing anyway in the coming years. 25 years is a good spell, but your do look to be in good condition.

If you do decide to replace - consider seamless alu guttering as it avoids the need for any joints - which will inevitably leak at some stage. There are also some good options for preventing leaf build up. However, seamless alu downpipes are very light and don't take any abuse. Cast alu is a good alternative as they are much stronger - but more expensive.

Also - a replacement is a good time to check out any internal issues with rotten timber, nests, etc. However - doesn't look like that should be too much of an issue for you.

deeobrien

Thanks for the reply. Gives me more to think about. I only moved into the house a year ago so I've slowly been doing the necessary jobs. I might put replacing the fascias etc on the list. Although it might have to wait a bit :-) I'm guessing it would be in the order of a few thousand ? (3 bed dormer bungalow - 116smq aprox).