metal barge/fascia alternative?
Anyone got any comments on using a folded colourbond fascia instead of those metal fascia systems with the creases in them ( not keen on the creased look ). Reasons being that I dont want to have to get up ( 2nd storey - 33 degrees pitch ) every five years to repaint them but prefer look of timber ( relatively smooth ). Would use brackets from metal system though. Is there a reason for creases?
Thoughts please?
Colorbond over timber fascia
Our problem and this post is also related to the post
https://www.woodworkforums.com/showth...ghlight=fascia
Wooden fascia - repair or colorbond it.
Basically, during install of new tiles on our 80+ year old house, we discovered major problems with rotted fascias and barge boards.
The problem originates from the crappy building technique where painters arrive after the building is erected and paint only what can be seen.
This allows the scotia moulding to get wet and rot when tile pointing cracks, and then water seeps in behind the scotia causing rot of the fascia boards. At least this is what happened to our house.
We have around 80 lineal meters of these large style 230 mm wide fascia / barge boards.
Apart from $1500 for purchase of new 230 mm wide fascia, the install would take about two weeks for two guys ($3500) since the fascia is also not held very securely (mainly by tile battens) and the proper support for the fascia rafter would be to fix it back to the internal rafters. So the total price for this work would be around $5K. Of course, this does not include replacing the original pattern pine lining boards under the eaves, likely to be damaged by this work.
Compare this to cutting out a few rotten sections and stiffening up the fascia rafter with angle iron connections back to internal rafters. The following technique also keeps the patterned pine lining boards under the eaves.
We drew up sections of plane 0.6mm thick colorbond flashing with two folds, so that the top of the outside matched the top of existing fascia, and the top of the inside section was close to the eave lining. The original style scotia moulding is fixed through the colorbond into the top of the timber fascia. The scotia covers the outer edge of the flashing to prevent water entry and keeps everything looking original,. The cost of the 80 lineal meters of colorbond flashing bent to our specific profiles was $800 (from Robot Trading), about $10 per meter. The maximum length of folded colorbond is 6 meters so most sections of the roof required two pieces. There were no hollows or kinks in our custom folded profiles.
There is also 80 lineal meters of 32 x 32 mm scotia moulding, but this would also be required with 230 mm wide fascia / barge boards. All surfaces of the scotia were primed and painted before install.
Bottom line, is that it only took two days to complete the installation of colorbond fascia covers (they are not really heavy). They look great, just plane, without grooves etc. and it is difficult to tell that they are not timber.
I would highly recommend this technique to anyone.
Jon
New technology V old methods
Quote:
Originally Posted by
pawnhead
Timber is undoubtedly more expensive (especially if you go for 25mm thick instead of 19), and it needs painting as well, and after a while, the joins will crack and it will need repainting.
I think I'll start using this for external timber priming in future. http://www.senseal.com.au/index.html
Its a two part epoxy sealer with the consistency of water, thus enabling it to soak in deep & set hard, locking up the timbers ability to be porous. Spendy no doubt, but not compared to the premature replacement of external timber. Also, another practice that will greatly extend the life of external timber is to use Polyurethane sealers like Sikaflex. Wherever you have timbers butting together (like the Scotia moulding to the barge as described above) place a bead of poly between the two before final fixing. This creates a complete seal between the two & stops any moisture being held there by capilary action, & so preventing the rot that would surely happen without this practice. Another method that will possibly go against the grain of conventional practice is to leave a gap where timber ends meet. Traditionally one would prime the ends then fix them together, but this does not prevent the capillary retention of moisture that will eventually win out over the primed ends resulting in degradation of the timber. The idea of the gap is to allow a space that is big enough to be filled by the polyurethane sealant. This will completely seal the timber ends as above, & also allow for the inevitable movement that will occur with timber. By having a poly filled joint the timber can move & flex & the poly will go with it, but the crucial seal is maintained. With the epoxy sealer & the polyurethane sealant implemented in practice, water penetration is greatly reduced & life expectancy of the job will be much improved.