When you’ve spent hours, days, weeks, months, or even years, getting your home looking the way you want it to look, it’s important to remember that maintenance and upkeep are hugely important. This is not only for aesthetic purposes, but also for practicality too.
Take your fascia boards for example. Though they now come in a variety of different materials, including UPVC and composite, most fascia boards across the States are made from wood, and therefore need to be painted and treated.
Fascia boards are designed to not only help seal roof edges, but to also hold the guttering system in place, and improve the overall aesthetics and curb appeal of the exterior of your home. Think of them as the metaphorical icing on the cake in terms of improving the look, feel, and functionality of your home’s roofing system.
While fascia boards will of course weather overtime, if you notice the paint of your boards beginning to peel and flake, this could indicate that there are bigger problems afoot.
So, what does peeling fascia paint actually mean? Here are a few possibilities.
What Does Peeling Fascia Paint Mean?
While age, sun damage, birds and insects, and general wear and tear can all cause the paint on fascia boards to chip and flake off, the most common cause is usually moisture. Considering most fascia boards are made from wood or timber, you can understand why this is such a problem.
If you can see the paint on your fascia boards bubbling, flaking, or chipping away, there’s a good chance that moisture is to blame. If this is the case, you’ll have to get it taken care of right away. Once moisture is able to penetrate beneath the wood’s surface, this increases the risk of rot. Rotten wood is of course soft, crumbly, and unfit for purpose, which means it will need replacing.
If you have wooden/timber fascia boards, they are constantly exposed to the elements. The wetter the weather, the greater the risk of rot setting in. Not only that, but if your guttering system has failed, the boards will be exposed to even more water, and there is a far greater chance of the rot getting worse. Timber fascia boards need to be painted and treated regularly to help keep them waterproof.
So, why does fascia paint peel and flake? Well, assuming the problem is moisture, when moisture becomes trapped beneath the surface of the paint, I.E in the wood, the paint loses its adhesion and no longer sticks to the wood. Often it causes it to bubble up, crack, flake, and eventually peel away.
How to Spot the Early Signs of Rot and Water Damage
Again, because moisture is the most common cause of peeling fascia paint, it’s important to spot the warning signs nice and early. The earlier you can diagnose the problem, the easier it will be to make things right.
Here are a few things to watch out for when it comes to rot and water damage affecting your fascia boards.
Visible Signs of Damage
Arguably the most obvious tell-tale sign of water-damage to your fascias is any visible signs of damage.
If your fascia boards are coming away from your roof, or are suddenly looking old, worn, weathered, and generally in poor shape, it could be excess water that’s causing the issues.
One of the most obvious warning signs of water damage is when the fascias come away. If water is to blame, this is usually down to the nails coming away because they no longer have anything to anchor to because the timber is too spongey and rotten.
Swelling or Warping
Another fairly obvious sign of water damage affecting the fascias on your home is if you can see any visible swelling or warping.
Fascia boards should be flat and even. If some sections are looking more swollen than others, or if it is bowing outwards, or twisted in some areas, this could be due to the fact that the timber has soaked up too much water and has become swollen. Once this happens, the timber will only get weaker as time goes by.
Mold or Damp Patches
If you can spot any visible signs of mold, damp, mildew, or damp in general, this is a clear indication that water is the culprit.
These forms of fungi thrive in damp conditions, and if there are visible signs of any of the above, this is a clear sign that there is far too much moisture in and around your fascia.
Paint Peeling, Bubbling, or Flaking
Finally, as we touched upon previously, if you notice the paint on your fascia boards beginning to bubble, peel, chip, or flake away, damp could be the problem.
Paint is not only designed to look attractive, it is also there to help protect the wood and provide a protective barrier against moisture.
If you can see random patches of paint peeling or bubbling, this shows that water has been able to penetrate beneath the paint’s surface and get into the wood. Painting the fascias again won’t work as the same thing will happen. The only way to rectify the problem is to replace the boards will new, dry ones.
