Roofline Basics
As tradesmen, we often band around terms, forgetting that it can cause confusion for our customers that may not be as familiar with the lingo.
Let’s have a brief look at what the roofline is, and what we’re talking about with all the parts that make up the work we do.
On the diagram, you’ll see the key parts of the roofline labelled, namely the guttering and downpipe, alongside soffits, fascias, barge boards and box end.
What Is Guttering?
Guttering is the name we use to describe the half pipes that collect rain as it runs from rooftiles to prevent it falling to the floor or surfaces below. They come in wildly differing lengths, but generally have a downpipe at one end to transport the water towards the ground efficiently.
For longer stretches of roof, you may have multiple downpipes attached to ensure that rain can drain quickly enough in the heaviest downpours.
What Are Downpipes?
Downpipes are tubes that carry water vertically away from the guttering. They often stretch from the roof to ground level, but sometimes drain onto lower roofs, and other times carry water to another, lower section of guttering, depending on the building configuration.
At ground level, downpipes usually allow water to flow into drains which in turn lead to sewers, but can also deposit water into soak aways, which have been popular during some periods of house-building allowing water to disperse gradually into the ground. A soakaway can appear to be water cascading onto the floor beside the building.
What Are Fascias?
Fascias are boards the guttering fixes to, under the roof tiles and above the building’s walls. Fascias are orientated to face away from the walls of the building.
What Are Soffits?
Soffits can look similar to fascias from ground level, but face downwards. They fill the gap between the tops of the walls and the fascias, with the fascias acting as a bridge between the soffits and the roof tiles.
What Are Barge Boards?
Barge boards are very similar to fascias, with the key difference being their diagonal orientation. They still face away from the building but run from the peak of the roof diagonally down with the roofing. Often, but not always, this will end at the corner of the building.
Another difference is fascias will normally have guttering attached, barge boards do not.
What Is The Box End?
The box end keeps things tidy by providing a neat joint between the combination of soffits, fascias and barge boards where they meet.
Our Services
We’re pleased to help residents and businesses in Wigan and the surrounding towns of Lancashire and Manchester with their guttering needs. We offer:
- Gutter cleaning
- Gutter repair
- Gutter installation and replacement
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