Stand in the garden and look up at the edge of your roof. Under the lowest row of tiles there is a board running along the front, another board tucked underneath where the roof overhangs the wall, and a channel hanging below the lot. Those are the fascia, the soffit and the gutter, and between them they decide whether rainwater gets safely to the drain or wanders down your walls and into your timbers. They are easy to ignore because they are high up, and easy to misname because the words are unfamiliar. This guide explains each in turn, shows how they connect, and sets out what to watch for.
The roofline in one picture
Imagine the end of a rafter, one of the sloping timbers that carry the tiles. It sticks out past the wall to form the overhang, called the eaves. The board nailed across the ends of all the rafters, facing outwards, is the fascia. The board fixed horizontally under the overhang, closing the gap between the rafter ends and the wall, is the soffit. The channel clipped to the fascia, catching the water that runs off the tiles, is the gutter, and the pipe that takes the water to the ground is the downpipe. On a gable end, where the roof finishes in a triangle, the sloping board that follows the roof edge is the bargeboard. Together these make up the roofline.
The fascia
The fascia is the board you see from the street, fixed across the ends of the rafters. It does three jobs. It closes the gap beneath the lowest tiles, so wind, rain, birds and insects cannot get into the roof. It stiffens and ties together the rafter ends, which would otherwise hang loose. And it carries the gutter, because the brackets that hold the gutter are screwed into it.
That last job is the one people forget. A gutter is heavy when it is full of rain and leaves, and the fascia has to hold it. If the board is soft or split, the gutter sags and the whole system fails. The usual materials are painted softwood, which was standard for many decades, and uPVC, which does not rot and needs no painting. Aluminium and composite boards are used less often. What happens when a timber one fails is the subject of rotten fascia boards.
The soffit
The soffit is the board under the overhang. From the ground you see it as the flat underside of the eaves, sometimes painted, sometimes white plastic. Its job is to close the underside of the roof edge, again keeping out weather and animals. In a modern roof it has a second job, which is to let air in. Vented soffits have slots or small holes that let air pass into the roof space, so a loft with insulation stays dry and does not get condensation on its timbers. Our guide to soffit ventilation explains how that works.
Soffits are made of timber, plywood, uPVC, fibre cement and, in houses of a certain age, asbestos insulating board. That last one matters: if your house was built before the year 2000 and the soffit is old, nobody should drill, cut or break it until it has been identified. Our answer on whether your soffits could contain asbestos explains why. The difference between the two boards is also covered in what is the difference between a soffit and a fascia.
The gutter and downpipe
The gutter is a long open channel fixed along the fascia, a little below the edge of the roof so that water running off the tiles drops into it. It has a very slight fall towards an outlet, where the water drops into the downpipe and runs down the wall to a drain or soakaway. The system only works if the fall is right, the joints are sealed, the brackets are firm and the channel is clear.
Gutters come in half-round, square, ogee and other profiles, and in plastic, aluminium, cast iron and steel. Which is right for a given house depends on cost, looks and the building. The trade-offs are laid out in a three-way material comparison, and our short answer on square, half-round or ogee guttering compares the shapes.
Bargeboards and verges
On a gable-ended house, the roof stops at the side wall and the edge is finished with a bargeboard fixed along the slope. It does for the gable what the fascia does for the eaves: it caps the roof edge and keeps out the weather. There is no gutter on a bargeboard, so the tiles at the edge, the verge, are fixed so that water runs off the roof. Bargeboards rot at the top, where rain runs onto them from the verge, and they are often forgotten until the paint peels. Our short page on what are bargeboards covers them.
What sits behind the visible parts
Several things you cannot see matter as much as the boards. The rafter ends are the timber feet of the roof that the fascia is fixed to. The wall plate is the horizontal timber on top of the wall that the rafters rest on. The felt or underlay is the waterproof layer under the tiles, and at the eaves it should lap into the gutter, so that any water that gets under the tiles runs out and not into the timber. Many roofs also have an eaves tray or support strip, a piece of plastic or metal that holds the felt up and carries the water over the fascia. Our answer on what an eaves protection system is explains that part.
How the parts work together
Rain lands on the tiles and runs down the slope. At the bottom, the lowest course of tiles overhangs slightly so the water drops into the gutter, not onto the fascia. The gutter carries it to the outlet, the downpipe takes it to the ground, and the drain removes it. Meanwhile air enters at the soffit, passes up under the felt, and leaves near the ridge, keeping the roof space dry. If any link fails, the rest suffer. A blocked gutter overflows onto the fascia, the fascia rots, the brackets let go, and the soffit goes damp. That is why the roofline is best thought of as one system.
How the parts fail
Each part has its own typical faults.
- Fascias: peeling paint, soft patches, joints opening, cracks at the gutter line, and boards that bow outwards.
- Soffits: sagging boards, staining, holes where birds or insects get in, and blocked vents.
- Gutters: leaks at the joints, sagging between brackets, overflow in rain, rust on metal types and cracks in plastic ones.
- Downpipes: blocked inside, cracked, loose from the wall, and discharging to a blocked drain.
- Bargeboards: rot at the top, split joints and paint failure.
Most of these begin with water. A checklist of what to look for from the ground is in signs your gutters need replacing.
Terms you will meet on a quote
A quote for roofline work uses a handful of words that are worth knowing before you read one.
- Cladding or capping: plastic fitted over the existing boards instead of replacing them.
- Dry-fix: fixing without mortar, used for ridge and verge tiles, and not a roofline term as such but often on the same quote.
- Return: the short piece of board that turns the corner of a fascia or bargeboard.
- Bracket spacing: the distance between the fixings holding the gutter, which governs how well it carries water.
- Stop end: the cap that closes the end of a gutter run.
- Running outlet: the fitting where the gutter drops into the downpipe.
- Hopper: a funnel-shaped fitting at the top of a downpipe, often used where two roofs meet.
- Shoe: the angled fitting at the bottom of a downpipe that directs water into the drain.
If a quote uses a word you do not understand, ask. A fitter who can explain each item is more likely to have thought about it.
What the parts are made from, at a glance
Fascias and bargeboards are timber, uPVC, aluminium or composite. Soffits are timber, ply, uPVC, fibre cement or, in older houses, asbestos insulating board. Gutters and downpipes are uPVC, aluminium, cast iron, cast aluminium or steel. None is right for every house. Timber suits a period building and needs painting. Plastic suits most homes and needs washing. Metal suits exposed sites and long runs. Mixed roofline is common: timber fascia with plastic gutters, iron gutters on a plastic board. What matters is that each part is sound and fitted properly.
Looking after them
Very little is needed. Keep the gutters clear, check the joints in rain, glance at the boards for peeling paint or staining, and make sure vents are not painted over or blocked by insulation. Our gutter maintenance guide sets out a simple yearly routine. Anything above ground-floor reach should be left to someone with the right access.
Replacing them
The parts are often replaced together, because they share scaffold and because water damage usually spreads from one to the next. Some people want only the gutters done, and that can be right if the board is sound. The question of covering old boards or replacing them is covered in our comparison of fascia capping and full replacement, and the stages of the job are set out in what happens during a roofline replacement. Costs are on the page about what soffits and fascias cost.
Who does what on a job
A roofer, a carpenter or a dedicated roofline fitter can all do the work, and it makes little difference to the result provided the fitter understands the whole roof edge: tiles, felt, rafters and drainage. Ours is a roofing business, so we look at the roof as well as the boards. On a survey we photograph the roofline from the ground and up close, test the timber, run water through the gutters and report in plain words. The quote that follows is fixed and in writing, and the finished roofline is covered by our decade-long workmanship guarantee. For everything we do here, see guttering, soffits and fascias, or ask us a question by phoning 01256 213956.
