Fascia is the board that is fixed to the bottom edge of your roof at the front and rear of the building. A fascia is a piece of straight often long board running alongside the lower roofs edge. Fascias are directly attached to the lowest side of the roof and have the job of giving support to the bottom of the roofs tiles.
Fascias
The word fascia comes from Latin “fascia” which id defined as “band, bandage, ribbon, swathe”.
Summary of what its job is and why you should be interested in it is:
- Hold the bottom row of roof tiles in place
- Provide a solid base on which to fix guttering.
- Stop the exposed ends of your rafters absorbing water, which can lead to damaging damp and rot.
There is often a common misunderstanding between the role of the Fascia and that of the soffit. The Fascia creates a divide between the edge of the roof and the outside. Part of its role is an aesthetic one, giving a refined look to the edges but the other part of the Fascias purpose is that of a line of defence against the impact of the elements. Fascias play a huge role in protecting from weather damage. In addition to being good looking and protecting the roof the Fascia acts as an anchor for your guttering to be set against and attach to, so without fascias a roof would be in trouble.
When fascias have deteriorated it could be because the wood has rotted. The best solution in a lot of cases is to replace the entire fascia and opt for a longer-lasting material which is waterproof such as UPVC. This isn’t the only option material for your fascia as we often do install wooden ones so don’t worry if that’s what you’re after. However, UPVC is literally maintenance-free and durable. Regardless of wooden vs plastic, a Fascia is a key element of your roof, both in its weatherproofing as well as part of the roof construction as well as being very visible and therefore need looking after.