How do I repair this?
A wisteria had already pried apart this cornice, causing damage to the gutter, fascia and scotia when I bought the property about a year ago. Since then, I've trimmed the wisteria to a few inches below ground level and re-siliconed the gutter join which has stopped the gutter from leaking water on the fascia below.
I think the fascia is salvageable. The wood is still very hard; it passes the poke test except for the two spots circled in orange where it can be chiseled out with a flat head screwdriver. I think there might have been a nail or some filler in there previously.
I'm guessing the repair looks something like:
- sand back the surfaces
- drill new deck screws to try pull the fascia cornice together. There's no movement in the fascia so I don't think it will actually reduce the gap from what is shown in the photo.
- builders bog/epoxy to fill the gap between the fascia and cover any screws
- sand then paint to finish
Any critique on the above or steps missing? Some things I am not sure of:
- should I remove the scotia to access and fill the gap between the fascia or just fill what I can see with the scotia in place?
- should I use a wood hardener for those two circled spots where the wood has some softness? Never used wood hardener before so not sure how effective it is.
- Should I use backer rod? I thought the gap was small enough not to need it.
Any other thoughts/advice very welcome. Thanks in advance!
