If the decision has been carefully made to undertake the work on replacing your roofline with Plastic Guttering & Soffits then the first step is to conduct a survey.
An incorrect survey can be a disastrous event – dangerous in some cases and extremely inconvenient in others. In all aspects of construction companies, whether it is roofline or gardening, there will always be a surveyor. They cover all aspects and area from Health and Safety to quantity surveying. Making the right decisions will save time, money and damages.
This goes into categories and the first decision to make is a quick one – access. A quick walk around the house is in order and by considering which access equipment is going to be used, you can judge whether it can be safely used. In places where ladders could slip or be completely inadequate you may consider getting that area scaffolded. If a decision cannot be made with 110% confidence that no accidents will happen then call a professional without giving it a chance. A single trip over a stone can break bones at ground level; a fall from roofline height will almost surely kill, landing on either grass or stone. Keep this in mind!
Secondly, when and if it is safe to replace your roofline with Upvc, you will need to make a list of materials. To make a more accurate decision you will need to get to roofline height to do your own survey. So get the ladders out and get used to the height that you could be working at.
This is a good opportunity to make a more thorough decision on whether to conduct the work yourself. Once up there ask yourself whether you can work at that height. The average job will take two experienced fitters around 2-3 days (giving 8 hours in the working days). Obviously you will be using more appropriate and safer access than ladders alone. I suggest you never undertake the work, however small, whilst leaning back on any access equipment.
Take a tape measure up with you. You are looking for two overall measurements, which are the fascia height and soffit depth. A section of guttering may have to be removed for this to allow you to get the end of the tape measure to the bottom of the tile. If this cannot be done safely then it is no problem to get fascia a little bigger than needed. As fascia sizes generally gain 25mm in height from suppliers (starting with 150mm – 175mm- 200mm and so on) it will not matter if the Upvc fascias you get are bigger. You can always cut them down with the right tools!
Soffit boards can be a bit trickier but the same principle applies. If brought bigger then it is no problem. The decision to put the soffit on the wall may not be apparent yet, but if possible it would need to lie at least 30mm on top of the wall. Use your tape measure again and get the measurement from the brick to the fascia to give you your soffit depth. Then, be generous with your additional leeway. Allow an extra 50mm – 70mm for going on top of the wall and, in some cases, an out of line wall. If the walls are crooked then take several measurements along the tiled run / bargeboard. Soffit sizes normally start as little as 45mm all the way to 400mm and over. With these two measurements you can tell exactly what sizes you will need to purchase from a Upvc supplier.
Do these measurements on every run or gable as some do differ from the other. Bear in mind additional measurements such as vent strips, which add height to Upvc fascias.
Walk around the house again but this time you will need to measure the overall length of the runs and gables. Measurements need to be averaged to a half meter. For example – a measurement for a run at 4467mm is just as good as 4.5 meters, 2746mm can be 3 metres and a measurement of 2567mm will have to go up to 3 metres also. Never undercut yourself as off cuts will come in useful all over the property. Upvc Fascias and soffits come in 5 metre lengths so the odd 1-meter here and there will come in handy somewhere else. Undercutting will leave gaps and weaknesses, meaning you might as well leave the roofline as it is!
Now to start off, Bargeboards are normally 4.5 to 5 meters in length so two lengths of Upvc Fascias and soffits will be needed each bargeboard. You can get the exact measurement when you get to it. However, if in doubt you can measure it but make sure you do it safely. Get help, as measuring bargeboards is a two-man job.
For tiled runs you can easily hook the tape measure onto the wall and walk it along the face of the house to get your measurement. Once the wall ends, use your original soffit depth measurement and double it. Add it on to the run length to get a more exact reading. Be generous as mistakes will not be!
I find it easy to make a plan of the house from a bird’s eye view. For instance, a property with four sides will be a square. More complex properties will need a little more thought but as doing this for years I personally find this easiest to read as you yourself know your own house. A list of runs and measurements can be confusing, finding it hard to discover again where you started and left off. Once these measurements are found it is advised to read the section relating to Roofline Products to help you break it down into a list of materials or use your own sources and Upvc supplier’s reference books and catalogues to aid you further
If you would like a Free Quote on the work why not do it now, while you are thinking about it & before something else comes up & distracts you. Call Simon 01603 261481
