# Forum Home Renovation Structural Renovation  Replacing rotting bargeboard

## crossfire

G'day all,
The timber bargeboards on the gables of my 25 year old house are badly weathered in several places - the wood at the very ends is soft to touch and seems to be rotting. There's about 5 gables in total.
The roof tiles do not go over the top of the boards like some houses - they sit just behind the bargeboards, slightly lower (they are not attached to the boards). On the top of the bargeboards, a sort of metal capping runs the length. I was told the existing timber might be oregon. 
I want to get the whole lot fixed, not just patched up
Looking for some thoughts on the following:
1. Get someone (a carpenter?) to replace the bargeboards completely. Is this a straightfoward job, and would it affect any other part of the roof (don't want any leaks afterwards) 
2. Same as above, but using colorbond instead of timber, so it doesn't need painting (who would I get to do this, and is there a cost difference compared to timber?) 
3. I've heard existing timber can be just clad/covered in colorbond so the wood doesn't get worse - is this a good idea? 
If anyone has advice, or recommendations for carpenters/roofers I'd really appreciate it (outer eastern Melbourne) 
many thanks!

----------


## johnc

These days barge boards are made from treated pine, far less chance of rot, they also come pre primed. Paint the things before they go up, they will outlast the old boards by years.

----------


## woodchip

It sounds a little more straight forward in your situation, than if the tiles sat on the bargeboard, it is a pain of a job either way, scaffold plus a couple of tradies(possibly asbestos eave sheets), but still doable by any carpenter, if you can find one that is interested. 
I'd get a metal fascia & gutter company (Steeline?) to give you a quote, these companies are set up for these type of jobs. 
cheers

----------


## Compleat Amateu

Do I understand you correctly, the bargeboards aren't connected in any way to the roof tiles?  They follow the roofline but there is a gap between tiles and bargeboard?  They are just attached to a roof timber protruding under the tiles? 
If that's the case, they sound redundant and can be removed altogether.  Or am I missing something?

----------


## Black Cat

They probably finish off the gable nicely even if they are structurally pointless. I would go the full replacement with timber myself.Colorbond is not a permanent colour, just a long-lasting one. The metal over the top may be flashing, so make sure you understand why it is there before you gaily rip it off.

----------


## woodchip

As mentioned by BC above they finish the gable off nicely & protect the structural roofing timbers, which could be HWD or Oregon, like a sacrificial barrier if you will. 
If the tiles sat ontop of the bargeboard, the top of it is usually set to(flush) top off roof battens, then a strip(50mm or so) of FC sheeting is nailed on top of it to hold the pointing in place, this is a trickier repair as the narrow strip of AC sheet often gets damaged, as does the tile pointing, during replacement of rotten bargeboard 
cheers.

----------


## crossfire

> Do I understand you correctly, the bargeboards aren't connected in any way to the roof tiles?  They follow the roofline but there is a gap between tiles and bargeboard?  They are just attached to a roof timber protruding under the tiles? 
> If that's the case, they sound redundant and can be removed altogether.  Or am I missing something?

  Thanks everyone for your help
Yeah, the bargeboards are set up as Black Cat described, the tiles are definately not attached. There are eaves under neath each gable too. 
So getting it replaced with treated pine would be the best thing to do? Do I still need the flashing along the top?

----------

