ROOFLINE EXPLAINED

 Roofline components are the essential parts of your roof that protect your home from the weather – mainly wind and rain in the case of the UK.

With the possible exception of drains, roofline products are the parts of a building that few people notice until they fail because they are hard to reach and often out of sight. But the five main elements – fascias, gutter, soffit, bargeboards and boxends – are essential as they bear the brunt of anything the weather has to throw at them.

Fascia boards, in particular, protect the roof space and rafters of the home and, if allowed to rot, can lead to roof rafters being damaged – as well as spoiling a home’s appearance if they are old and discoloured. The fascia board is the long, straight board that runs along the lower edge of the roof and is fixed directly to the roof trusses. It needs to be structurally strong and durable because it not only supports the bottom row of roof tiles, but also carries all the guttering – and all the rain that sweeps into the gutters from the roof.

The larger the roof area, the greater the volume and weight of water that runs into the gutter when it rains. As a result the fascia board may have to support many kilos during a downpour.

Everyone knows what a gutter is: simply a narrow channel at the edge of the roof that collects and diverts the rainwater. This is then directed via a downpipe  from the roof edge to the bottom of the building where it is either discharged into the sewage system or collected. Some sustainable building designs collect rainwater for uses that do not require drinking water, such as flushing toilets or washing clothes. 

 Soffit is a general construction term that refers to the underside of a flat, horizontal surface but, in roofing terms, means the board that covers the space between the external wall of the property and the edge of the roof. Soffit boards are usually screwed or nailed to rafters  and butt up to the fascia board, so they are usually made of matching materials. 

 The gable end of a house or terrace has a bargeboard under the roofline. Historically bargeboards were fixed to the projecting gables of a roof to give them strength, but now they are both cosmetic and protective because they cover the ends of the horizontal timbers or purlins of the roof to which they are attached. Without the bargeboards, the timber ends would be exposed which would both look very poor and would expose the timbers to rain and rot. The condition of the bargeboard can often make or break the look of a house.

Boxends are also found on gable ends, where they accommodate the fascia, soffit and bargeboard at each corner of the house into a neat, tidy right-angled shape.

 All five of these elements must work together because if one fails then it has an impact on the others and, eventually, on the performance of the roof.