Should gutters and fascias be replaced with the roof?

The fascia is the long board screwed across the rafter ends at the bottom of each slope, and the gutter is clipped to it. The soffit is the panel under the overhang, closing the gap between that board and the wall. When a roof is stripped, the bottom edge of the roof is exposed, the underlay is dressed down over the fascia into the gutter, and the first course of tiles is laid. Replacing the fascia at that stage is straightforward. Doing it afterwards means working around finished eaves.

Then there is access. MyBuilder's 2026 cost guide for gutters, fascias and soffits puts scaffold for that work at about £20 to £40 per m², a cost you would pay again on a separate visit. If the scaffold for the re-roof is already standing, the roofline can be done from it at no extra access charge. Our guide to what a new roof costs sets out where scaffold sits in a full price.

Look from the ground first. Soft, flaking or split fascia boards, sagging gutters, joints that drip, and green staining down the wall below a gutter all suggest water has been escaping for a while. The part we cannot see from below is the rafter ends behind the board. Once the covering is off, we can look at them directly, and a fascia that hides rot at the rafter feet needs more than a new board.

MyBuilder's guide says uPVC boards are typically replaced after 10 to 20 years and need an inspection about every five. That is a general guide, not a rule for your house. A sheltered, well-ventilated board can outlast it and a neglected one can fall short. The honest test is condition: press the board, check the joints, and see whether the gutter holds water or loses it.

Falls and brackets

A gutter that holds standing water is laid with the wrong fall. Manufacturers typically recommend a gentle slope to the outlet, between about 1:600 and 1:350 whichever system is fitted, with brackets set close enough that the run cannot sag. Re-fitting them on a new fascia gives a chance to set the fall properly, with the outlet at the low end and the joints sealed.

MyBuilder's 2026 guide gives these typical ranges for the roofline, before any scaffold:

The same guide quotes fascia and soffit together at about £150 per metre. Those are national figures, not a Supreme price, and a steep terrace or an awkward lane will move them. Once we have surveyed, the quote sets out the roofline work, which lets you weigh it up and decide whether to include it. Because it is a distinct job, leaving it out does not disturb the rest of the work, and adding it later at the cost of a second scaffold is the outcome to avoid.

Bargeboards, the boards that finish the gable ends, belong in the same block. MyBuilder lists a bargeboard at about £195, so it is a small line, but one that is easy to forget until the old board is lying on the ground and the verge looks bare.

It is not automatic. If the fascias and soffits were fitted recently and are sound, they can stay. The gutters can be taken down, cleaned, re-hung to a proper fall and sealed at the joints. On an older house with cast iron guttering, repair and repainting is often the better route than a plastic substitute, and on a listed building the choice of material may not be yours to change without consent. In Stroud District, ask the council's planning team before a cast iron run is swapped for another material.

There is also the neighbour effect on a terrace. A shared roofline, with a fascia running across several houses, may belong partly to the next-door owner. Talk to them early, and make sure any change meets cleanly at the party wall.

That said, failing boards should not be left in place. A new roof laid on a rotten fascia loses its bottom row quickly, and the gutter will not hold. Where the roofline is the weak link, do it now.

Ask for the roofline as a separate block: fascias, soffits, bargeboards at the gable ends, gutters, downpipes and any ventilated eaves products. Ask which material is proposed, whether the old boards are being removed and taken away, and whether the work includes making good the paint or the wall where brackets were fixed. Photographs from the survey help here, because you can point to the board you mean.

We prioritise sound timber and a clear fall over decoration. Our workmanship guarantee runs for 10 years and is given in writing; the debris is cleared by us at the end. If a solar array or a loft conversion is on your list too, see our note on solar panels during a re-roof and the VAT position on roof insulation, since all three share the same scaffold. The roof replacement page links the rest.