Soffit and Fascia Repair in Unionville, PA

Soffit and fascia repair means replacing rotted or damaged trim at the roof edge, closing openings that let animals into the attic, and correcting the cause, which is usually water from gutters, a missing drip edge or ice dams. On Unionville homes, carpenter bee tunnels and woodpecker damage in fascia boards are also common.

What soffit and fascia actually do

The fascia is the vertical board along the edge of the roof. Gutters usually hang from it, and it caps the ends of the rafters. The soffit is the horizontal underside of the overhang, between the fascia and the wall of the house. Together they close the roof edge, protect the rafter tails from weather and animals, and, on most homes, let air into the attic through soffit vents.

Because they sit right where water leaves the roof, they are among the first parts of a house to rot when something goes wrong with drainage. They are also easy to overlook from the ground until paint peels, a board sags or a gutter starts pulling away.

Roof edges on older Unionville homes and barns

Most homes in the Unionville village date from 1820 to 1880, and their roof edges look nothing like a modern vinyl soffit. Many have boxed cornices with layered wood moldings, built-in gutters lined with metal, and frieze boards decorated with trim. Barns and carriage houses often have open eaves where rafter tails are exposed to weather.

These details fail in their own ways. A built-in gutter whose lining cracks rots the cornice from the inside. Crown moldings rot at their joints, where water sits. Exposed rafter tails on outbuildings rot at the cut ends, which were rarely sealed. Repairing them well means rebuilding the framing first, then matching the trim profiles so the repair blends in from the road.

We photograph and measure original moldings before removing them, mill or source matching profiles where needed, and reline built-in gutters with durable metal so the new wood stays dry. On barns, we cut back rot to sound wood, seal end grain and add drip edge where the roofing allows it.

Carpenter bees and woodpeckers in Unionville fascia

If you have seen large bees hovering around your eaves in spring, they are probably carpenter bees. Penn State Extension notes that Pennsylvania has one large carpenter bee species, Xylocopa virginica. The female drills a nearly round hole about half an inch across, usually against the grain, and while one bee does little damage, the next year's broods extend and branch the tunnels and can cause considerable structural damage over time (Penn State Extension). Unpainted or stained wood is the most likely target; Penn State recommends filling the holes in fall and painting or varnishing the wood, noting stained wood usually is not protected.

Woodpeckers make it worse. Penn State Extension says homes in wooded suburbs and rural, wooded countryside are the most likely to suffer woodpecker damage, that holes may be drilled into siding, eaves or trim, and that insect infestation is sometimes the reason, so damaged wood should be checked for insects (Penn State Extension). Woodpeckers are protected by state and federal law, so the fix is to remove what attracts them, not to harm the birds.

How we repair bee and woodpecker damage

• Coordinate with a pest professional first when bees are active, so we are not sealing live nests into the wood
• Replace boards with deep or branching tunnels; plug and fill shallow holes in sound wood
• Prime and paint all sides of new wood, including the back and the cut ends
• Consider aluminum fascia wrap or cellular PVC trim on boards that get attacked year after year

Soffit vents and attic ventilation

On most homes, soffit vents are where cool outside air enters the attic, and ridge or upper vents are where warm, moist air leaves. When soffit vents are painted over, blocked by insulation or never installed, the attic runs hot in summer and damp in winter, which shortens shingle life and feeds condensation and ice dams.

The International Residential Code sets a minimum net free ventilation area of 1/150 of the vented attic area, with a reduction to 1/300 allowed when the vents are balanced between upper and lower parts of the attic as the code describes (IRC R806.2 summary). In practical terms, a 1,500 square foot attic at the 1/300 ratio needs about 5 square feet of net free vent area, split between intake at the soffits and exhaust up high.

What we check when we repair soffits

• Whether the soffit is vented and whether the vents are open
• Whether insulation in the attic is blocking airflow at the eaves; baffles keep a channel open
• Whether exhaust vents up high balance the intake
• Whether bathroom fans or dryer vents are dumping moist air into the attic instead of outside

On historic homes with solid wood soffits and no venting, adding vents is a judgment call. We discuss the look, the attic and the roof before cutting into original trim.

Wood, PVC or aluminum: choosing materials

On homes in and around the Unionville Village Historic District, painted wood that matches the original profile usually looks right on the visible sides. Check any easements or deed restrictions before changing materials on a historic facade.

Gutters: the root cause behind most fascia rot

Because gutters cause so much soffit and fascia damage, we look at them on every job:

• Clogs. Leaves, seed pods and twigs from nearby trees. Gutters on wooded lots around Unionville usually need cleaning at least in late fall and spring.
• Pitch. Gutters should slope toward downspouts. Sagging sections hold water against the fascia.
• Hangers. Loose spikes and hangers let gutters pull away, opening a gap where water pours behind them.
• Downspouts. Blocked or undersized downspouts back water up in the gutter. Splash blocks and extensions keep water away from foundations.
• Valley outlets. Where a roof valley empties into a gutter, a large volume of water arrives at one spot. A splash guard keeps it from shooting over the gutter.

Choosing a contractor for roof edge repair

Ask any contractor what is causing the rot and how they will fix that cause, whether they will check the rafter tails and sub-fascia behind the board, and whether drip edge and gutters are included. Pennsylvania requires home improvement contractors to register with the Office of Attorney General, to put that number on a written contract for jobs over $500, and limits deposits on jobs over $1,000 to one-third of the price plus special order materials (HICPA information sheet).