Understand Important Facts About Fascia, Soffits And Gutters On Your Property Before The The Rot Sets In.

Unplasticised polyvinyl chloride, or PVCu (or uPVC) as it's more commonly known, has almost comprehensively swept the board in the new guttering and fascia market. Their are numerous reasons why homeowners now decide on PVC-U when thinking about a guttering replacement and new fascias on their property.

It is today widely recognised that the maintenance inconvenience and the technical performance of wood, in particular for roofline, is no longer satisfactory when compared with PVC-U.

A PVC-U roofline is better than wood because, as we all know, timber is a porous material. Once water has breached the outside layer, it is a matter of when and not if it will call for replacing. This then paves the way for woodworm and many other vermin to set up home sooner or later causing structural damage. PVC-U rooflines will not rot, will never require painting, do not discolour and will continue being maintenance free for up to fourty years. All they will have to have is the occasional wash down with warm lathery water.

Soffits
Fascias, also known as soffits, are boards attached to the top of the exterior walls of a building, just under the roof, which then projects over the fascia. This used to be generally made from timber, but nowadays PVCu replacements are more desired as they are light, simple to fix, last longer and less expensive. Wood boards need frequent painting and replacement and PVCu in reverse is very resilient, only fading and cracking after quite a few decades.

Guttering
The guttering is fitted to the fascia and collects the rain from the roof, diverting it into drain pipes which take the water down into the public waste water system, or away from the home to a soakaway, where it can scatter without damage. Larger diameter downpipes take effluent from the toilets down into the sewers. If the guttering or downpipe is obstructed or cracked, then water can ooze over the brickwork and go through into the home, creating damp issues.

Gutters have been made from all sorts of materials, including concrete, wood, aluminium, galvanised steel and other metals, but before plastic was popular, they were generally painted steel. This needs frequent cleaning and re-painting and if it's not carried out, rust can set in and create leaks. This means replacing sections, which is expensive and hard because of the weight of the steel. PVC-U scores highly over steel on both those counts and when considering guttering replacement on your house we strongly suggest you opt for PVCU .