01
The gutter has to come off
There is no reaching the fascia otherwise, so this is nearly always a gutter job too. Doing both together costs far less than doing them a year apart.
Roof Repair
Soffit & Fascia Repair in Dayton, OH
The first wood to rot on most Dayton houses, and almost always a gutter or ice-dam problem that has been running for two winters.
4.9 from 38 reviewsFree estimates across the Miami ValleyServing all of the Miami Valley
Free rot check
Tell us how long the gutter above it has been overflowing. That is usually the real cause.
The cause fixed too
Gutter, drip edge or ice dam. New wood under an old fault rots on the same schedule.
Cut back to sound wood
Not wrapped over. If the board is questionable it comes out rather than getting hidden.
Replaced vented
Soffit is the attic's intake. While it is open, it is the cheapest ventilation you will ever buy.
The Problem
Is the fascia rotting, or is something putting water on it?
Nearly always the second. Replace the board without fixing the cause and it rots on the same schedule.
Fascia is the board your gutters hang on and soffit is the underside of the overhang. They fail first, and hardly ever because of anything wrong with the wood itself. An overflowing gutter, a missing drip edge, or an ice dam backing water up under the shingles, one of those is doing it. All three deliver it to the same six inches of the house, every winter, for years before anybody looks.
- The cause found first, usually the gutter above it
- Cut back to sound wood, never wrapped over rot
- Replaced vented, so the attic gets its intake air back
Why Us
New wood that lasts longer than the last lot did
Which means fixing the gutter line, the drip edge or the ice damming at the same time. Otherwise you are buying the identical repair again in five years.
02
We never wrap over rot
Aluminum wrapped over existing wood looks tidy and hides whatever is behind it. Where the wood is questionable we replace it instead.
03
Watch the rafter tails
Where water has been getting in for years the rafter ends can be soft. That is structural, and we stop and show you rather than adding it to the invoice.
What We Do
More Roof Repair Services in Dayton
Everything we cover under Dayton roofing services, from a single slipped shingle to a full tear-off. Not sure which one you need? Call and we'll tell you straight.
Roof Leak Repair
The most common call we get. We trace where the water actually enters, which is rarely directly above the stain.
Learn more
Flat Roof Repair
Low-slope roofs on extensions, garages and porches. Ponding, split seams and failed membrane.
Learn more
Shingle Repair
Missing or lifted shingles after a storm. We match what we can and tell you honestly when a patch will show.
Learn more
Roof Flashing Repair
Chimneys, valleys, and where the roof meets a wall. Flashing gives out long before the shingles around it do.
Learn more
Metal Roof Repair
Loose fasteners, split laps and brittle pipe boots. On most metal roofs we see, the panels are sound and the hardware has moved.
Learn more
Roof Vent Repair
Split pipe boots, ridge vents that do nothing, and attics never ventilated to modern code. Often the cheapest leak on the roof to put right.
Learn more
The Difference
Why wrapping is the wrong answer more often than not
Aluminum wrapped over existing fascia is quick, looks sharp from the street, and is what most of the trade will offer you. It is also a way of putting a lid on rot. Water that was getting behind the board before is still getting behind it, and now nobody can see what it is doing.
We wrap where the wood underneath is genuinely sound and replace where it is not. Which of the two you have is something nobody can tell you until the gutter is off, which is why we look before quoting rather than after.
The pre-war housing around the old core in Englewood throws up a lot of this, because the overhangs are deeper and the wood is older.
How It Works
How a soffit and fascia repair runs
Gutter off, rot out, cause fixed, gutter back.
- 1
The gutter comes down
There is no reaching the fascia otherwise, so this is nearly always a gutter job as well.
- 2
We find where the rot stops
Cut back to solid wood, which is regularly further than the damage looks from below.
- 3
Rafter tails checked
Where water has been getting in for years the rafter ends go soft. That is structural, and we show you.
- 4
New wood, new gutter line
Replaced vented, the drip edge corrected, and the gutter re-hung to the proper fall.
Reviews
What Dayton homeowners say
4.9 average from 38 reviews
“We had a leak over the back bedroom for almost two years and kept putting a bucket under it. The team found the problem in about ten minutes. It turned out to be the flashing around the chimney, not the shingles. They fixed it that same afternoon. I wish we had called sooner.”
“We had a full tear-off on our 1950s ranch. The crew arrived at 7 every morning and finished the job in three days. They even swept the entire driveway with a magnetic roller so our kids wouldn't pick up any nails. The final price was exactly what we were quoted.”
“After the hail last June, our insurance company questioned whether the damage was from the storm or simply the age of the roof. The team inspected everything, took detailed photos, and joined the call with our adjuster. The claim was approved. I don't think we would have managed it on our own.”
“Good work at a fair price. I gave four stars because our job had to be pushed back a week due to rain, and I had already taken the day off. They did call ahead and kept us informed instead of simply not showing up, which I appreciated.”
“A tree came down on our garage roof at around nine at night. Someone actually answered the phone, which I wasn't expecting. They had the roof tarped before midnight and came back the following week for the permanent repair. Great response when we needed help.”
“We had new seamless gutters and gutter guards installed around the whole house. They made the gutters right there on site, which I hadn't seen before. We've had two heavy storms since the installation and nothing has overflowed onto the patio. That was exactly the problem we wanted fixed.”
“I booked a roof inspection expecting to hear that we needed a full replacement because that's what the previous two companies told us. After inspecting it, they said our roof probably had about five years left and told us to call back when the time came. They didn't charge us for the inspection. That honesty is why they'll get the job when we eventually replace it.”
“This is the second time we've used them. They installed our gutters a couple of years ago, and we recently hired them again for a full roof replacement. We even had the same crew leader both times. The quote was clearly itemized, so we could see exactly what we were paying for, including the wood underneath repairs.”
More about Soffit & Fascia Repair in Dayton
Rotten fascia is a symptom, not the problem
Fascia is the board your gutters hang on; soffit is the underside of the overhang. They are the first wood on the house to fail, and almost never because of anything wrong with the wood. Something has been putting water on them. An overflowing gutter, a missing drip edge, or an ice dam backing water up under the shingles at the roof edge.
Which means replacing the board without finding the cause gets you a new board that rots on the same schedule. We look at the gutter line, the drip edge and the roof edge itself before quoting, because the repair nearly always involves at least one of them. Plenty of these start as a leak call and end up here.
Twenty-three inches of snow is what does it here
Dayton takes about 23 inches of snow between November and March. Snow melts on the warm part of the roof. The water runs down to the cold roof edge and freezes there. The ice that builds up forces water back under the shingles. That is an ice dam. The roof edge is exactly where the fascia and the front edge of the soffit are, so they take that water first, and they take it every winter.
Add 41 inches of rain a year, running through a gutter that has been overflowing since the leaves came down. Those two things cause most of the rot we cut out. Fixing the ice damming and the gutter line is what makes the carpentry last.
What the repair involves
It is more invasive than it looks from the ground, and that is the honest thing to say up front.
The gutter comes off
There is no reaching the fascia with the gutter hanging on it, so this is nearly always a gutter job as well. If the gutters are old and made in short sections, doing both at once costs considerably less than doing them a year apart.
Cutting back to sound wood
Soft wood is cut back until we reach something solid, which is regularly further than the visible damage suggests. We do not know the full extent until the gutter is down and we can see the end grain.
The rafter tails
Where water has been getting in for years, the ends of the rafters themselves can be soft. That is structural, and it is the reason a small job occasionally becomes a bigger one. We stop and show you rather than carrying on and adding it to the invoice.
Ventilation while it is open
Soffit is where the attic draws its intake air. If it is being replaced, it gets replaced vented, and that is often the cheapest ventilation improvement available on an older house. See what balanced ventilation involves.
Wood, aluminum or vinyl
Painted wood matches a period house and will need repainting. Aluminum wrapped over the existing wood looks tidy, and it is what most of the trade fits. But it hides whatever is behind it, rot included. That is why we replace the wood rather than wrap it when it looks doubtful. Vinyl soffit is inexpensive, comes ready-vented, and is an entirely reasonable answer on a post-war ranch.
On the pre-war stock in Dayton's ten historic districts the profiles matter. Craftsman overhangs in particular have deep, exposed rafter tails that a wrap simply ruins, and we match those in wood.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of contractor fixes soffit and fascia?
A roofer, usually, because the cause is nearly always on the roof or in the gutter, and because the gutter has to come off to do the work. Carpenters and siding companies do it too. The thing to avoid is anyone who will wrap it in aluminum without first checking what is behind it.
What is the average cost to replace soffit and fascia?
It is priced by the linear foot of roof edge, so the size of your house drives it more than anything else. Most of these jobs sit inside the $438 to $2,796 range that covers roof repairs here. They land toward the higher end when the gutters are replaced at the same time. We quote once the gutter is down and we can see how far the rot runs.
How do you repair rotted soffit and fascia?
Cut back to sound wood, treat the cut ends, replace like for like, and fix whatever put the water there in the first place. The last part is the one people skip, and it is the part that decides whether you do this again in five years. If the rafter tails are soft, it becomes a structural repair rather than a carpentry one.
How hard is it to replace soffit and fascia?
The carpentry is straightforward. The working position is not. It is all done from a ladder or scaffolding, at the very edge of the roof, with the gutter off. People get hurt doing it because the only thing to lean on is the part that has rotted.
Free Estimate
New wood that lasts longer than the last lot
We fix what put the water there as well, so you are not buying the same repair again in five years.
- Response
- Same day
- Quotes
- Always free
- Covering
- the Miami Valley