The short answer
If the fascias, soffits or gutters are tired, replace them during the re-roof. The scaffold is already standing, the first course of tiles needs a sound fascia behind it, and new gutters can be hung to suit the finished eaves. If they are in good order they can stay, but they will be disturbed by the work, so have a close look at them while the access is there.
What the eaves do for a roof
Along the bottom of the roof, the rafter feet overhang the wall. Three parts sit there. The fascia is the board nailed across the rafter ends, and the gutter hangs from it. The soffit is the panel underneath that seals the strip between board and brickwork, usually with small vents let into it. The gutter gathers the rain and delivers it to the downpipes.
Between them they do several jobs. The lowest course of the covering rests against the fascia, with an eaves tray or support tray guiding the underlay into the gutter. The soffit lets air into the loft, which keeps the roof timbers dry. If the fascia is rotten, none of that works well, and a new roof fixed to a soft board is a poor foundation. That is why the eaves belong in the same conversation as the covering. Skipping them can leave a new roof sitting against a failing edge, with the job half finished.
What the shared scaffold saves
Replacing fascias and guttering is mostly a matter of access. A job done from a ladder is slow and unsafe at two-storey height, and a separate scaffold is the largest single cost. MyBuilder's guide to gutters, fascias and soffits, updated in August 2026, gives roughly £30 to £70 per metre for gutter replacement and about £150 per metre for fascia and soffit, with scaffolding at around £20 to £40 per square metre. These are national typical figures, not a price for your house.
A re-roof keeps the scaffold standing from start to finish, so the eaves can be done without paying for access again. The roofer strips the covering, the fascia comes off while the rafter feet are exposed, and the new board is fixed to sound timber. Compare that with a visit a few years later, when a scaffold is hired afresh and the new tiles sit awkwardly beside an old, stained board that no longer matches.
There is a tidiness gain too. New fascias, soffits and gutters are installed in one colour and one style, so the whole front of the house looks consistent when the scaffold comes down.
Rotten boards, rafter feet and the asbestos question
The best time to see rafter feet is when the fascia comes away. After years of a dripping joint, the rafter ends and the timber bedded on the wall behind can have gone soft, and a rotten foot is spliced or replaced. Our page on replacing roof timbers covers that work.
Soffits on older houses need one more thought. HSE lists external soffits as a place where asbestos insulating board can be found, says it is difficult to tell from non-asbestos equivalents, and tells owners to presume asbestos is there in a building put up or refurbished before 2000. Nobody should break or drill such a panel on a hunch. A suspected board is identified first, and if it proves to be asbestos, the right procedure follows, which for insulating board is mostly work for a specialist licensed for it. Cutting it up for a quick job would be neither safe nor lawful.
Gutter falls, brackets and downpipes
New gutters are set with a slight slope towards the outlet. Makers of gutter systems tend to ask for a shallow fall to the outlet, somewhere between 1:600 and 1:350 depending on the product, and brackets close enough to stop sagging: FloPlast, for one, gives 500 mm as the maximum on straight runs of its MiniFlo system, and Brett Martin says no more than 900 mm. Sagging, ponding gutters usually mean the brackets were too far apart or were fixed to a weak fascia.
The old cast iron gutters on Victorian terraces are a separate case. They are heavy and can often be repaired, but a re-roof is also a fair moment to switch to a lighter system if the original has failed. On period or listed buildings a like-for-like profile is normally expected. Also check the downpipes and the drain connection, because a perfect gutter feeding a blocked gully still floods the wall. Our terraced house re-roof page notes how shared eaves and shared gutters change the plan.
What to decide before the scaffold goes up
Ask for the eaves to be examined at the survey, with photographs of the fascia, soffit and gutter as they stand. Then decide what is replaced, what is kept, and which material and colour you want. Modern boards are usually uPVC, which MyBuilder suggests checking every five years and typically renewing every 10 to 20 years, with material and weather making the difference. Timber is possible where a house calls for it, and aluminium suits some modern designs. A painted timber fascia needs repainting from time to time, so ask what upkeep to expect before you choose, and check that any vented soffit has the airflow the loft needs.
If the loft is being insulated or ventilated differently, the soffit vents and eaves trays need planning alongside, and our page on loft insulation when re-roofing explains the link. The written quote follows the survey, and a 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing covers the fitting. For the rest of the job, see the main roof replacement page.