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Soffit is a word gotten from two languages - French and Latin, whereby the root word implies to “form as a ceiling in French, while it means to “to fix underneath in Latin. Basically, soffit is a portion of the ceiling that has been constructed lower than the area that surrounds it. And even though they aren’t that much popular in recent times, they happen to be a common feature in kitchens of older homes in the UK. At times, a soffit can occupy the whole room or area in a home.

Homeowners across the globe make use of this feature mostly as a decorative element in the room , however, there are also times in which they may be required for various purposes. These purposes include using soffits to conceal plumbing pipes or, heating or cooling ducts, which is often the case when sofits are constructed at the lower levels of homes. They’re also often incorporated in bathrooms or kitchens as soffits house light fixtures. For instance, recessed light fixtures fitted over kitchen or bathroom sinks are mostly fitted into a soffit. What’s more? Soffit can also be required in a room because of the home’s structure as the feature can be used to hide a structural beam.

If you happen to own an older home and you’d like to remove an existing soffit, the first step is to ensure that its safe to carry out such plan. You should firstly check for any electrical lines, ductwork, lighting or structural problems that may exist prior to the commencement of the project. If you’re not sure or confident enough to pull this off, then it’s advisable to consult a professional contractor before you proceed.

It can be a huge headache, but cleaning of gutters is a task that needs to be done and even more so when it’s a stained white gutter. Nobody want to do it, but everybody has to. If you happen to lack the required confidence to pull this off as it has to do with working at heights, then we’d strongly recommend that you get in touch with a reliable professional who can guarantee the best results for help and also save you some time and money from potential costly errors. In this post, we’re going to show you some of effective way in which you can tackle stained white gutters effectively.

Firstly, you’ll have to take out the ladder with a pair of rubber gloves. Simply position the ladder safely, climb up the roof and start removing the leaves and other debris clogging up the gutters. You can also make use of a garden trowel to remove the very thick debris. Once done, spray the gutter using a garden hose to flush out the dirt as this will make the stains visible. Then prior to cleaning, ensure to cover the plants or landscape underneath with tarp or plastic sheet since the cleaning solution may negatively impact the vegetation.

Start to clean by spraying an all-purpose cleaner on the stains and srub them off using a scrub brush. You can also try a mixture of 1/4 of water with 1 cup of bleach and 1 teaspoon of dish soap. Dip your scrub brush in this solution to scrub off the stains. The bleach mixture is guaranteed to eliminate any mold or mildew that growing on your gutters with ease.

The soffit and fascia is the outdoor underside region of your roof which would need to be repaired or replaced when it’s in a critical condition. Your soffit and fascia may actually require more frequent replacement or repair depending on the material that the soffit or fascia uses. If you notice your soffit and fascia needs to be replaced, then you’d probably also like to know how much it going to cost. Well, you’ve come to the right place! The price to replace a soffit and fascia can vary significantly which can be a bit annoying when you’re trying to calculate the overall cost you’ll be expected to pay.

The price of a soffit and fascia is based on the following variables:

✓ The materials you wish to use for the new fascia, soffit and guttering

✓ The type of the property. For instance, semi detached houses may come at a lower price due to the less roof space they require when compared to their counterparts, which can reduce the cost of replacement.

✓ If you’re going to also replace the gutter at the same time will also increase the cost of replacement.

✓ The current overall condition of the roof. For example, if you also have broken or slipping roof tiles, the soffits and fascias can be more difficult to replace, hence, increasing the cost of the project.

Generally, the average cost of fitting soffits and fascias as replacement options for your homes will range between £1200 - £3,000. What’s more? Soffits and fascias normally have a per metre cost. The average price of soffits and fascias per metre can range between £100 to £130 when you opt for a white uPVC option.

1. Hang a plumb bob from the outlet to the drain to use as a guide while you draw several marks on the wall with a pencil to show you where the downpipe will run.
2. Join the marks up with a straight edge, creating a line to show where the centre of the downpipe will be.
3. Position a downpipe clip at the top of wall, in the centre of the pencil line. Mark the position of its fixing holes on the wall. If you need an offset bend, put a downpipe clip directly below the bend.
4. Repeat the process down the wall. Make sure there is no more than 1.8 metres between pipe clips.
5. Refer to the guttering manufacturer’s instructions to see which drill bit is required. Use a drill to drill the fixing holes and insert wall plugs.
6. Fit the first piece of downpipe starting from the outlet and moving towards the drain.
7. If you need to add more downpipe, join the two pieces with a pipe socket and clip. Leave a 10mm gap between the end of the pipe and the bottom of the pipe socket, because it will probably expand. Then attach a pipe clip over the joint.
8. Continue attaching pipe clips down the length of the downpipe.
9. If you need to, fit a downpipe show to direct the water into the drain. Attach a downpipe clip directly below the socket of the shoe.

If you live in an average home with an average amount of guttering and you’re used to a bit of DIY, it’s relatively easy to replace gutters. But if you have a home that’s more than two-storey or you have guttering that’s more complicated, it’s best left to the professionals.

Lots of homes these days have uPVC guttering. uPVC is a hard-wearing plastic that will last a long time without much maintenance except your usual gutter clearing. It’s relatively light, so lots of people think it’s easy to replace uPVC gutters. If you live in a bungalow, you may be able to just use a ladder to take down your old guttering and replace it with new uPVC gutters, but if you live in a two-storey home it can be a bit more complicated. If you do attempt to replace your gutters yourself, make sure you’ve got a sturdy ladder that will comfortably reach the right height, and never rest it on the fascia or the guttering itself.

If you have cast iron or copper guttering, this is much heavier and bulkier than uPVC. Certainly don’t try to replace these on your own – make sure you have another competent DIYer to help you. Reputable roofline specialists will use scaffold towers to make it easier to handle heavy gutters and they will always work in pairs on this type of guttering, so make sure you have the right tools and equipment to work with.

Just because it’s easy to replace gutters, it doesn’t mean you should. It’s better to ask a reliable roofline company to help you, since they have the skills to fit guttering properly and have experience with working at height.

Every year, various parts of your roof may need to be changed at one point or the other. Due to the fact that this event can occur at any time in a year, there’s the need to be fully ready. When it comes that being ready, you simply can’t overlook the importance of soffit and fascia boards in protecting your roof space and helping it maintain its clean and unique visual appeal. As a result, when your soffit and fascia boards need to be changed, you best do so as quickly as possible.

This task can be completed by anyone with basic DIY knowledge and experience, but if you lack the confidence to pull off then it’ll be advisable to hire a professional who can guarantee the best results for help.

✓ Remove the old existing boards. In order to install the new soffit and fascia boards, you’d have to remove the existing ones first. If necessary, you can make use of a Stanley knife to make the process much easier.

✓ Fixing soffit boards. Several soffit boards are made using uPVC. The boards are to fixed to the underside of your timber rafter ends. Make sure to use timber to close any gaps between soffit boards and also make sure that your soffit boards’ back are resting against the wall’s top.

✓ Fixing fascia boards. Many fascia boards are also made from uPVC and are usually installed in a similar way to soffit boards. Use a minimum of two nails to make sure they’re secure enough to hold weight of any roof tiles and also to prevent any buckling.

✓ Guttering and felt. To start the guttering, you’d have to screw any brackets into the facia board. You can use a spirit levelto make sure the alignment is perfect to enable the floe of water directly through your guttering system. Once done, you should also check for any rotting roof felt at the edges closest to the gutterin. If there is a rot, make use of eaves felt trays and tuck under existing felt and overlap into the guttering