What is fascia on a roof?
Where it sits
Stand under the eave and look up. The horizontal surface under the overhang is the soffit; the vertical face at the outer edge, right behind the gutter, is the fascia. On gable ends a similar board, called the rake board or rake fascia, follows the slope of the roof.
What it is made of
- Painted wood: usually 1x6 or 1x8 boards on older Georgia homes.
- Wrapped wood: a wood board covered with bent aluminum coil, common on brick ranches.
- Fiber cement or PVC trim: on many newer homes, far more rot resistant.
Why fascia rots
Water usually gets in one of three ways: gutters that overflow because they are clogged or pitched wrong, a missing or short drip edge that lets runoff wick behind the gutter, or old paint that lets rain soak the end grain. In humid Georgia summers wet wood stays wet, and soft fascia follows. Rotten fascia lets gutters pull loose and gives squirrels and birds a way into the attic.
Fascia during a roof replacement
Fascia is not part of the shingle system, but it sits right in the work zone. The crew installs new drip edge over its top edge, and that is the best moment to replace soft sections, especially if the gutters are coming off anyway. Ask whether fascia repair is priced per linear foot in your estimate so there are no surprises. Our drip edge guide and gutter guide cover the parts that protect it, and Robust Roofing's soffit and fascia guide shows what animal damage looks like.