What we saw → Rotted fascia board
Rotted fascia board
Photo to come
What it looks like
- The fascia board is the board your gutter is hung on.
- Peeling paint, dark stains, or soft, crumbling wood behind the gutter.
- A gutter that won’t stay tight to the house.
What causes it
- When a gutter overflows, it backflows toward the house and wets the fascia board, every rain.
- It only takes a leaf and a stick to block a gutter and have that gutter fill with water.
What it leads to
- Water works its way from the fascia into the roof decking and migrates upward.
- Condensation drips onto the attic insulation, and wet insulation packs down until it stops doing its job.
- On my own house: all the fascia board replaced, twenty-six pieces of decking, the attic insulation removed and vacuumed out, the attic disinfected, and all new insulation blown in.
How we fix it
- We like to get eyes on it. When the old gutters come off, we can see the fascia board.
- Fascia work isn’t normally part of a gutter replacement, but it comes up. When it does, it’s a separate line, priced and on the contract before any work goes ahead.
- We only bring it up when it’s needed — when it’s visible, or found when the old gutters come off.
- Keep the debris out. The Valor Gutter Guard keeps leaves, needles and nests out of the gutter, so there’s nothing to clog.
Questions and answers
What causes fascia board to rot?
Water from the gutter. When a gutter clogs and overflows, it also backflows toward the house and wets the fascia board every rain. From there, water works into the roof decking.
Is fascia work included in a gutter replacement?
Fascia work isn’t normally part of a gutter replacement, but it comes up. When it does, it’s a separate line, priced and on the contract before any work goes ahead.