It is quoted per linear foot, and the spread depends almost entirely on how much wood under the trim has rotted, which is invisible until the old material comes off. Get the estimate to state a rate for sound sections and a separate rate for replacing rotted fascia, so the discovery is priced before it happens rather than after.
Get My Free Estimate →Fascia is the board running along the roof edge that your gutters hang from. Soffit is the panelled underside of the overhang. When either fails, you usually see it as peeling paint under the eave, a gutter pulling away, or dark staining where water has been tracking behind the trim.
Replacing them is straightforward work. Doing it correctly means opening the rot rather than covering it, and that is where most of the cheap quotes in Waukesha County differ from the sound ones.
How to tell yours has failed
Five signs are worth acting on, and you can check four of them from the ground.
A gutter that sags, pulls away at one end, or has visibly changed pitch is the most common. Gutters are only as sound as the board they hang on.
Paint peeling or blistering on the fascia, especially on a north or west elevation, means moisture is moving through the wood from behind.
Stained, bowed or gapped soffit panels indicate water coming down from the roof edge or condensation from inside the attic.
Birds, wasps or squirrels using the overhang means there is an opening, and animals enlarge openings quickly.
The fifth needs a ladder and is best left to someone insured. Sound fascia is firm under a screwdriver tip. If it presses in like cork, the board is done.
What actually causes it here
Rot at the roof edge in southeastern Wisconsin almost always traces to one of four causes.
Gutter overflow is the leading one. A clogged or undersized gutter sends water over the back edge, straight down the fascia and behind the soffit.
Ice damming is the winter version. Melt water refreezes at the cold eave, backs up under the shingles, and saturates the roof edge from above.
Missing or poorly installed drip edge lets water curl back under the roof edge onto the fascia instead of dropping clear into the gutter.
Attic moisture is the quiet one. Warm humid air from the house condenses on cold sheathing near the eaves and runs down into the soffit.
The distinction matters because replacing the wood without fixing the cause buys you a few years, not a repair. If your gutters overflowed for a decade, the gutters are part of the job. See gutter repair.
Why capping over rot fails
Aluminium capping wrapped over the existing fascia is a legitimate finish, and it is also the most commonly abused shortcut in this trade.
Capping is correct when the wood underneath is sound and you want a low-maintenance finish that never needs painting. Wrapped properly over good wood, it lasts decades.
Capping over soft or rotted wood seals moisture in. The rot continues out of sight, the fastener holding your gutter loses its grip, and the eventual repair includes rafter tails that could have been saved.
Ask any bidder one question. Will you replace the fascia board where it is soft, or wrap over what is there? The answer separates the quotes. Call (608) 909-9109 and we will tell you plainly which your house needs.
The ventilation connection people miss
Soffit is not only trim. On most homes it is the intake half of the attic ventilation system.
Air is meant to enter through vented soffit at the eaves, travel up under the roof deck, and exit at a ridge vent. That flow keeps the deck cold in winter, which is the actual defence against ice dams.
Two things break it. Solid soffit panels installed where vented panels belong, and attic insulation stuffed into the eaves blocking the airway from inside.
If your house forms ice dams every winter, the soffit replacement is your opportunity to fix the intake side properly. Install vented panels, add baffles at the eaves to hold insulation clear, and confirm the exhaust at the ridge is adequate.
Doing the trim without fixing the airflow means you will be back looking at the same ice next February.
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We'll inspect it, document everything, and tell you honestly what you're looking at, even if the answer is patch it for now. No pressure.
What it costs in Waukesha County
Soffit and fascia are priced per linear foot of roof edge, and the range is wide because the condition underneath drives it.
Capping sound fascia in aluminium and installing new vented aluminium soffit sits at the lower end. Replacing rotted fascia board first adds carpentry. Rafter tail repair, where rot has travelled back into the framing, is a different category again.
Access changes it too. Single-storey ranch eaves are quick. Two-storey work, steep lots and anything needing staging rather than ladders costs more.
Insist that your estimate separates three numbers. Price per foot for capping and soffit on sound wood, price per foot for replacing rotted fascia, and an hourly or unit rate for rafter tail repair. Then a discovery mid-job becomes an expected line rather than an argument.
Aluminium, vinyl or wood
Aluminium is the default for good reason. It never needs painting, vented panels are readily available, and it handles our freeze and thaw without becoming brittle.
Vinyl soffit costs less and performs adequately under a protected overhang. It is more prone to cracking in severe cold and to sagging on wide spans.
Painted wood suits period homes where the profile matters, and on a historic property it may be what the architecture requires. Accept the repainting cycle that comes with it.
Whatever the material, the fasteners and the flashing decide the lifespan. Proper drip edge, correct overlap and fasteners that allow thermal movement matter more than the panel you pick. See our aluminium and steel exterior work.
When the siding should be done at the same time
Trim work and siding share scaffolding, crew time and disposal, so combining them saves real money when both are near the end.
It also solves a matching problem. New aluminium trim against tired chalky siding highlights the age of the siding rather than refreshing the house.
Do them separately when the siding has years of life left and the trim is the only failure, which is common where a gutter has been overflowing on one elevation for years.
We will tell you which case you are in during the estimate rather than bundling work you do not need. See our siding services and the Waukesha service area.
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