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What kind of eaves do i need?

I have recently had a new roof installed on my old home.

As someone new to big Reno jobs I didn’t think to ask about the eaves and eaves covering.
Birds are starting to pick at the insulation lining but I’m not sure what type of covering and who I need to install it; roofer or handy person ?

Any advice to point me in the right direction would be appreciated

cheers

Donna

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Comments

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @dhalvorsen1. It's marvellous to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about eaves lining.

In a more typical build, you would normally have a fascia board fixed to the ends of the rafters. The gutter is then attached to that fascia, which neatly encloses the rafter ends. Underneath, an eaves lining board, usually fibre cement, is installed to close off the underside and protect the insulation. That combination stops birds and vermin getting in and keeps everything protected from weather.

In your case, it looks like there is no fascia board installed at the ends of the rafters where the gutter is fixed. That leaves the rafter ends exposed and allows birds to access the insulation, which is exactly what you are seeing now. While the underside could technically be clad with fibre cement to close it off, the bigger concern is what happens if the gutter ever overflows or backs up. Water spilling out the back of the gutter would have direct contact with the rafter ends, which is not something you would generally want long term.

Ideally, a fascia board would have been installed before the gutter went on, so it is reasonable to question whether this should be retrofitted now, even though it is a bit more work. This is usually the sort of thing a carpenter or experienced handyman can do, rather than a roofer, although some roofers will handle it if asked. It may involve temporarily removing the gutter, fitting a proper fascia, then reinstalling the gutter and adding an eaves lining underneath.

I might tag @Nailbag here to get his thoughts, as he has a lot of experience with roof and eaves details and should be able to confirm whether retrofitting a fascia in your situation is the best path forward.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

Nailbag

Hi @dhalvorsen1

I'm assuming the builders when replacing the roof and guttering were following the previous older style of exposed eves, hence why no facia board as @MitchellMc mentioned. This was a common build design that also pre-dated insulation foil.

Retro-fitting facia now would possibly result in the roof sheets falling short on the gutter overhang, but its worth asking the builder/roofer to see if it's possible.

Otherwise its installing battens on the inside of each rafter to then fix cement sheeting to. It's a very tedious overhead job. I had to replace old water damaged ones earlier this year and it's not a job I'll be saying yes to in the future as there were obstructions like downpipes to deal with.

Another possible solution would be to square off the ends of the rafters and install longer lengths of eve sheeting. This would be an easier and quicker solution than infills.

Nailbag

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