Painting Fascia boards

Painting fascia boards is an essential part of property maintenance, the fascia board is the part just under the roof and the area the guttering is screwed too. I go into more detail as to what fascia boards, soffits and bargeboards in my post Painting fascia and soffits and bargeboards.

In this post I am only talking about fascia boards, a recent job I was working on prompted me to write this post. One of the jobs on a recent exterior job I was doing was to paint the fascia boards, now this is a very typical part of a job for me so am used to preparing and painting them.

On one length of fascia board an aerial or satellite cable had been clipped to the bottom face of the board, so what’s the problem you maybe asking, well nothing except you could be shortening the life of the board. Why, you ask, well if the paint degrades behind the cable allowing water to get in you will quickly get rotten boards, the cable hold the water on the board longer as the water gets between the cable and the fascia, trapping it there far longer than if the water was allowed to run off.

So if you need to run cabling run it behind the fascia board or along the wall so you do not trap water against the fascia.

Square and round edges

Another thing to look out for are square edges on the bottom of the fascia, the paint can not cover a 90° sharp angle as you typically get on a fascia board, you may notice the paint starts to deteriate here first and may even peel and lift exposing bare wood, as described in my post How to get paint to adhere to edges of woodwork. In this situation I always rub the square edge into a slight rounded one, this will allow the paint to cover far better and last longer, so your fascia boards should last longer and it may even prolong the amount of time you need to re-paint your fascia boards.

Just a couple of tips for painting your fascia boards, but they may help the fascia and paint on them last longer.

Decorating tips that could help sell your house

If your trying to sell you house you want to show it off at it’s best. In order for you to accomplish this you may need to do a little work. There are the obvious and cliché things such as fresh flowers, freshly made bread or coffee brewing but there is more you can do. Have a look at your decorating, as a little work could be the difference between selling and not selling your house.

If there is a choice between your house and a similar house at the same price, they may go for the other house if less work is needed, something worth thinking about.

Colours can make all the difference

If you like bright colours for your woodwork or walls you may consider changing these to a more subdued colour scheme, now I’m not saying that colour is a bad thing or everything needs to be ‘magnolia and white’. I’m saying that in order to sell your house and do so quickly you may want to go for more ‘neutral’ colours as this works best for other people’s items such as furniture.

If someone looks around your house and think they are going to have to redecorate fairly soon because your decorating scheme isn’t to their taste this to them will add on money they need to spend out and be a negative on your property.

Making a good first impression

Make sure your exterior also looks presentable, peeling; flaking paintwork isn’t normally a good sign of what may follow. If your woodwork is rotten of render blown you may need to be prepared to drop the asking price if you want a quick sale.
Gates and fences should also look in good condition and maybe a quick coat of paint wouldn’t go a miss.

The Hub of a home

A kitchen is the hub of any house. If your kitchen is looking a bit tired or outdated you obviously don’t want to start fitting a new kitchen but you could always consider changing the kitchen doors and draw fronts.
This can be done a lot cheaper than replacing a kitchen but will give an old kitchen a new lease of life and make it look newer than it is. You could paint the kitchen units but if you do make sure it looks professional as badly painted kitchen units will not do you any favours. Maybe some new flooring and a lick of paint will finish of the look.

A cared for house is a welcoming new home?

Your house needs to look as if it has been cared for, not a show house but lived in and cared for. The potential buyers will then feel that any problems that have occurred you have dealt with and they aren’t buying a whole load of problems and work.

What are fascias, soffits and bargeboards

Fascias and soffits boards are the part of the house that you most likely don’t look at very often, if at all. Just to explain, the fascia and soffit is the area of your property that the gutter is attached to. The underside is known as a soffit and the part with the gutter attached to it, is the fascia.
Bargeboards are fixed to the gable end of the roof to protect the roof rafters. They are just as important as the fascias and soffits and need to be painted regularly.

What should I paint them with?

If your fascias and soffits are wood and not Upvc then at some point you will need to have them painted, you can paint them in a woodstain, such as Sadolin, or Gloss such as Dulux Weathershield or an exterior satin, again by Dulux. It really depends on your preference.
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