Gutters pulling away from the house. Fascia gone soft and spongy when you press it. A brown stain creeping across the eaves out the back. That's timber doing what timber does when water sits on it — it rots. And around here it goes faster than most people reckon. The salt air off the coast and the rain coming down off the escarpment give a roofline a flogging all year.
We do the carpentry side of your roof. Not the tiles or the metal sheets — that's a roofer's go. What we fix is the timber the whole lot fixes to: fascia along the front of your gutters, the eaves and soffit linings underneath, barge boards on the gable ends, and the framing behind it all that you never see until something lets go.
Where the water gets in
Nine times out of ten it starts at the gutter. Leaves and gum nuts pack up the run, the water can't get away, and it backs up over the lip and runs down the back of the fascia instead of into the downpipe. Fascia cops it first. Then the rafter tails behind it. Then it tracks along and the eaves lining starts to sag and go chalky.
Plenty of the older fibro and post-war brick homes through Wollongong and down the south coast have hardwood fascia that's been painted over so many times you can't tell it's rotten. Push a screwdriver in and it just sinks. The newer estates cop it too — a blocked box gutter on a flash new build does the same damage, it's just hidden better.
So we pull the bad timber out, see how far it's gone, and sort the actual cause before anything new goes back up. No point putting fresh fascia on if the gutter's still going to overflow next storm.
What we put back
For most jobs we'll run treated pine for fascia and eaves framing where it's getting painted, or a primed composite/fibre-cement fascia board if you'd rather something that won't rot again and barely needs touching. Soffit linings are usually fibre-cement sheet with a fresh set of timber battens behind. Got hardwood fascia you want matched — spotted gum, that sort of thing? We can do that too, just tell me.
Rough order we work in:
- Clear and check the gutter line, sort the fall and flashings so water actually drains
- Strip the rotten fascia, eaves and any soffit sheets that have let go
- Cut back and splice or replace any rafter tails the rot's gotten into
- Fix new fascia, re-line the eaves, prime and seal the lot ready for paint
Salt air's the quiet killer down here. We use galvanised or stainless fixings, not whatever's cheapest off the shelf — cheap screws bleed rust streaks down a fresh fascia inside a season, and you'll be filthy you didn't spend the extra few bucks.
Why bother before it spreads
Roofline rot doesn't stay put. Water getting behind your fascia is tracking into the roof cavity as well, and once it's into the rafters and ceiling joists you're looking at a much bigger, dearer job — sometimes a structural one. A bit of soft fascia is cheap to sort. A sagging ceiling and a gone rafter is not.
Most eaves and fascia jobs we knock over in a day or two, weather permitting. Bigger runs or anything with hidden rafter damage take longer. Either way I'll tell you what we've found and what it'll cost before we keep going — no surprises halfway through.
We're local, fully licensed and insured, and you deal with me, Dave, start to finish. From Helensburgh down through the Gong to Nowra and the Shoalhaven, I'll come have a look, climb up and tell you honestly whether it's a patch-up or a proper replacement.
Give us a bell on 0414 007 351 or grab a free quote. Happy to take a look before the next southerly does any more damage.
Common questions
- Do you do full roof replacements?
- No, not the tile or metal sheeting itself — for that you'd want a licensed roofer. We handle the carpentry around it: fascia, barge boards, eaves, soffit linings and the timber that the gutters and sheets fix to. Most jobs cross over, so if you need a roofer too I'll tell you straight up.
- How much does it cost to replace rotten fascia?
- It depends on how many metres are gone and whether the rot's spread into the rafters behind it. A few lengths of fascia and a coupla soffit sheets might be $800 to $2,000, while a full side of the house with hidden rafter damage climbs from there. I'll have a proper look and give you a fixed number before we start.
- Can you fix the cause, not just the rotten timber?
- That's the whole point. Replacing fascia without sorting the blocked gutter or bad fall just means you'll be calling someone again in two years. We get the water running where it should, check the flashings and gutter line, then put new timber in. No use fixing the symptom and leaving the leak.