The fascia board isn’t something people think about replacing often, but when it becomes damaged, your roof and gutters won’t be able to work the way they should.
These boards can become damaged from too much wind, rotting from water, or even from animals causing trouble.
Many people think that you can’t fix a fascia board by yourself due to its placement and height. However, we are here to say that you can replace a fascia board by yourself and do a good job at it as well.
Why is it Important to Replace Your Fascia Board?
The fascia board is an important part of your roof that many people forget about.
It’s the long wooded board that runs along the edge of your roof and connects the gutters to the roof truss. It stabilizes your gutters while also sealing off your attic from the outside (if you have an attic.)
Even if your fascia board has a covering on it, it can still get damaged over time by the elements or by animals.
When damage happens to the board, it won’t be able to support your gutters properly. This can lead to broken gutters which then leads to a whole bunch of other problems with your roof from overall roof damage to flooding of your attic.
How to Replace Your Fascia Board by Yourself
Replacing your fascia board may seem like an intimidating process that is too difficult to do on your own. However, it isn’t as hard of a process as it may seem.
With this tutorial, you will be able to replace your fascia board no matter what the problem is. That way, you can have a high-quality roof that will keep your house protected from all the elements.
Inspect Your Fascia Board
Let’s take a look at what the problem is. Take a ladder and head up to where your fascia board is. Again, your fascia board will be located around the roof truss and is connected to the gutters.
When you climb your ladder and look at the fascia board, take note of the kind of damage that you are seeing.
Is the fascia board showing signs of rotting away? Are there any cracks or holes caused by either the weather or animals? Is there mold on the board?
While knowing what caused the problem won’t change the fact that it needs to be replaced, it will let you know if your board needs to be replaced just because of age or if there was a premature reason.
Clogged gutters and damaged roof shingles can cause the board to rot prematurely, so those areas should be repaired so your fascia board can last longer.
In the case of animal damage, knowing that animals are climbing up to the board can let you know that you might need to call pest control or place repellants on your roof.
Inspecting your fascia board will also let you know how much of it you need to replace. Hopefully, you only need to replace a portion of it.
However, it’s always good to know if you need to replace all of your fascia board or just a small bit of it.
Remove the Gutters and Drip Edge
To get to the fascia board, you must remove the gutters and drip edge first. Both of these things are attached to the fascia board.
For this task, you will need a drill or a screwdriver and a hammer. Now, before you do anything, you MUST take safety precautions.
You will need a safety hat (such as a hard hat,) thick gloves, safety glasses, and long clothes to cover your skin.
Each of these things is super important in case something falls and hits you or if you accidentally hit your hand with a hammer. When completing a home project on your own, you want to do everything in your power to prevent injury.
Using your tools of choice, unscrew the gutters and drip edge from the fascia board. Place these somewhere safe as you will need to replace them after the fascia board is replaced.
Cut the Fascia Board (Optional)
This step depends on whether you need to replace the full board or just part of the board. If you only need to replace a section of the board, you can cut the board into pieces, so you are moving less.
For this step, you will need previous materials plus a dust mask, hearing protection, and a power saw or oscillating tool.
Mark the spots where you need to cut with a marker. This will make it easier to see exactly where you want to cut. Then, cut the fascia board along those marks. Make sure that you don’t cut the sub-fascia which is underneath.
Remove the Fascia Board
Whether you are cutting the fascia board or removing it whole, you will need a prying tool such as a prybar or a hammer to remove the old fascia board.
Look for the screws in the board and pry those out. Once those are out, you can peel away the board to reveal the sub-fascia underneath.
Cut a New Fascia Board
Before this project, you should have gotten wood to replace your fascia board.
You may have gotten your board precut at a hardware store, which would make the process a lot easier. However, if you didn’t, you can still easily cut the wood yourself.
First, measure the amount of wood that you need. You can do this by measuring the space you had cut or by measuring the old fascia board.
Then, once you have your measurements, you can cut the new wood. Always triple-check your measurements before you start cutting.
Test your board by setting it on top of the sub-fascia to make sure that the measurement is right.
Attach the New Board
A good way to go about attaching a new fascia board by yourself is to use a starting nail. The starting nail is a singular nail that will keep the new board in place while you drill in the rest of the nails.
Hammer the starting nail at the halfway point in the new board. Now, you can line up the rest of your nails perfectly without needing other hands.
Using a nail gun, drill, or hammer, drive in a nail every few feet in the board. Make sure that your hammer the edges to ensure that the new board is stable.
Cover the Seams
While you can drive in a nail to attach the two sides of the board, you can still fill in and cover the seams to make your board look better.
You can use caulk or any kind of weatherproof sealant to fill in the seams of the board.
Make sure that each seam is fully packed to prevent gapping and debris from getting into the space.
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Paint and Seal
Of course, you can stop the process now. However, you want to make sure that your new wood is protected against the elements and looks nice on your house.
Purchase a strong primer and apply an even coat over the new wood. This will properly prep your fascia board for paint.
Then, pick a paint that matches the rest of your board or roofing and paint an even layer over the board. Allow the paint to completely dry and then add another layer.
The second layer will make sure you get the color that you want and make sure that the wood is completely covered.
Finally, a weatherproof sealer will prevent your fascia board from rotting from too much water and debris again. Make sure that the material you apply to your board is completely dry before moving on to the next step.
Reattach the Gutter and Drip Edge
At this point, you have successfully replaced a fascia board by yourself. With the paint you choose, we are sure that your house looks great!
Now, you can reattach the gutter and drip edge that you removed at the start of this process.
Make sure that each item is properly realigned before drilling in the screws. Keeping everything properly aligned is extremely important to make sure that everything works.
A gutter that hasn’t been properly aligned will leak water onto the fascia board and can make it rot faster, making you have to replace it again.
Once everything is reattached, you’re done! You have replaced your fascia board and have replaced everything on your roof.
Final Thoughts
Replacing a fascia board by yourself isn’t hard as long as you take all the necessary steps to make the process as simple as possible.
You should inspect your roof every few months to make sure that your fascia board isn’t rotting and that there aren’t any other problems with your roof. That way, you can catch problems before they get too big.
If you use this tutorial to replace your fascia board, let us know how the process went in the comments!