Fascia & Soffit
Repair
Fascia doesn't rot from rain hitting it. It rots because water is arriving from above — which means replacing the board without fixing the cause just buys you the same problem again in three years.
Which One
Is Which?
Most homeowners know something at the roof edge looks wrong but aren't sure what they're looking at. Stand outside and look up at the edge of your roof — here's what you're seeing.
Fascia
The board running horizontally along the edge of your roof, facing outward. It caps the ends of the rafters and it's what your gutters are screwed into.
It's the most exposed piece of wood on your house, and it takes every drop of water that doesn't leave the roof cleanly.
Soffit
The panel tucked underneath your roof overhang, between the fascia and your exterior wall. Usually vented, often perforated aluminium.
Those perforations aren't decorative. They're how outside air gets into your attic — and without them nothing else in your ventilation system works.
Your Soffit Vents
Are the Intake
Attic ventilation works like a chimney. Cool air enters low through the soffits, warms, rises, and exits high through the ridge. Both halves are required.
Take away the intake and the system stops. Your ridge vent has nothing to pull, so it pulls from wherever it can find — usually your air-conditioned living space through gaps around light fixtures.
Meanwhile the attic bakes. Florida attic temperatures routinely exceed 150°F when ventilation fails. That heat cooks asphalt shingles from underneath, dries out their oils, and releases granules years before it should. A roof rated for 25 years can be finished in 15.
This is why adding a ridge vent to a house with blocked soffits achieves almost nothing — and it's one of the most common ventilation mistakes we find.
Check Yours in Thirty Seconds
Walk outside and look up at your soffits. Are there vents, and can you see through them?
Common problems: solid soffit with no vents at all, vents painted over during a repaint, perforations blocked by insulation pushed against them from inside, or a screen enclosure fitted tight against the overhang.
Any of those and your attic can't breathe — which is costing you roof life every August. See shingle installation for more on why ventilation decides how long a roof lasts.
Soffits Fail First
in a Hurricane
This is the part almost nobody explains, and it's the reason Florida's code treats soffit attachment seriously.
In high wind, soffit panels are among the first components to blow out. Once they go, wind gets into your attic — and a pressurised attic pushes upward against the roof deck from the inside at the same moment the wind is pulling on it from outside.
That combination is a well-documented failure mode from Florida storms. Homes lose roofs not because the covering failed, but because the attic pressurised through a blown-out soffit.
It also means driving rain enters directly into the attic through the gap, soaking insulation and ceilings across the whole house rather than at one leak point.
Which Is Why We Install Them Properly
Correct panel material, correct attachment, and correct engagement into the channels — not just clipped in and left. On coastal and high-wind properties this matters considerably more than the finish does.
If your soffit panels rattle or flex when you push up on them, they aren't secure. That's worth addressing before hurricane season rather than after.
The Board Is
the Symptom
Fascia sits vertically under a roof overhang. Rain hitting it directly isn't what destroys it — something above is delivering water to it repeatedly.
Missing or wrongly sequenced drip edge. The metal at the roof edge should direct water off the roof and into the gutter. Fitted in the wrong order, or missing entirely, and water tracks backwards onto the fascia every time it rains.
Overflowing or back-pitched gutters. Water spilling behind the gutter runs straight down the face of the board. Undersized gutters do this in every heavy storm. See gutter installation.
Failed roof edge detail. Underlayment not carried properly to the edge, or a covering that stops short.
So we find the cause before quoting the repair. Replacing rotted fascia without correcting what caused it means you'll be paying for the same board again in a few years — and this is the single most common shortcut we see on this kind of work.
Signs You Need
Work Done
Damaged Soffit Is
How Things Get In
A gap in your soffit is a doorway. In Florida the usual visitors are squirrels, roof rats, and birds — and once they're in an attic they chew wiring, contaminate insulation, and widen the opening for the next one.
Sealing it is straightforward. Sealing it while something is still inside is not — which is why the order matters: exclusion first, then repair. We don't do wildlife removal, and we won't close a soffit until whatever's in there is out.
If You Have Bats, Stop
Bats are protected in Florida, and there's a defined maternity season each year during which exclusion is prohibited by law — sealing them in or out during that window is illegal, and it leaves flightless pups trapped inside your attic.
If you suspect bats, contact a licensed wildlife professional and check current dates with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission before anyone touches the soffit. We'll postpone the repair rather than get this wrong.
For everything else, we'll coordinate around your wildlife contractor and close the opening properly once the property is clear — with vented aluminium that doesn't give them a second way in.
What We Fit
| How it performs in Florida | |
|---|---|
| Aluminium | The Florida standard, and what we recommend for most homes. Won't rot, won't be eaten, holds colour under UV, and vented panels are available in a wide range of profiles. Fascia is typically aluminium-wrapped over a wood sub-fascia. |
| Wood | Correct on historic and architecturally specific homes where the profile matters. Needs painting and maintaining, and in Florida humidity that's a real ongoing commitment rather than a formality. |
| Vinyl | Inexpensive, and it shows. Vinyl soffit can sag and distort in sustained Florida heat, and it's less resilient in high wind than aluminium. We'll fit it if you want it, and we'll tell you what to expect. |
| Composite / PVC | Worth considering where you want a painted wood appearance without the maintenance. Costs more than aluminium and performs well. |
Whatever the material, ventilation is not optional. If your soffit panels are solid, we'll discuss adding vented sections — on most Florida homes that single change does more for roof lifespan than anything else at the roof edge.
How It Runs
We find out why it failed
Drip edge, gutter, roof edge detail, or wildlife. Replacing the board without correcting the cause is the most common shortcut in this trade, and it guarantees a repeat.
We check what's behind it
Rotted fascia often means water has reached the rafter tails or the edge of the decking. That's structural, and it's why this is a roofing job rather than a painting one.
Ventilation assessed
Intake and exhaust. If your soffits are solid or blocked, we'll tell you what your attic actually needs — usually the highest-value item on the estimate.
Damaged material removed
Back to sound wood. Rafter tails repaired or sistered where needed — our general contractor licence covers that, so the job doesn't stall.
New fascia and soffit installed
Material and colour to match, vented panels where ventilation requires them, and soffit properly engaged and secured rather than clipped in loose.
Roof edge corrected
Drip edge sequenced correctly, gutters re-hung or re-pitched. Otherwise the new board goes the same way as the old one.
You May Not Need All of It Replaced
Rot is usually localised — a corner, a section behind a gutter joint, one run under a valley. The rest of the board is often perfectly sound.
We quote what needs replacing, not the whole perimeter by default. If half your fascia is fine, that's what we'll tell you — and it's a substantially smaller job.
The exception is aluminium wrapping: if you're wrapping fascia for appearance, doing it in patches looks like patches. In that case we'll say so and let you decide.
Timing It With a Re-Roof
If your roof is due within a couple of years, wait if you safely can. Drip edge, the roof edge detail, and often the fascia itself are all worked on during a re-roof — doing them now means paying for the same access twice.
If it's actively letting water in, or your gutters are hanging off it, don't wait. Structural damage compounds and it gets more expensive the longer it sits. We'll tell you honestly which situation you're in.
What Makes Us Different
We Find the Cause
Fascia rots because something above is delivering water to it. Replace the board and leave the drip edge wrong, and you'll do it again.
We Assess Ventilation
Soffit vents are your attic's intake. On most Florida homes, restoring intake does more for roof lifespan than anything else at the roof edge.
Secured for Wind
Soffit panels are among the first things to blow out in a hurricane, and a pressurised attic lifts roofs. We attach properly, not loosely.
Two State Licenses
Roofing CCC1332394 and general contracting CGC1533052. Rafter tails, decking edge, and structural repairs handled directly.
We Quote What's Needed
Rot is usually localised. If half your fascia is sound, that's what we'll tell you — and it's a much smaller job.
Family-Owned, Owner-Run
This is a family-owned business. Ronny Hanna quotes the work, oversees the crews, and answers the phone himself.
Fascia & Soffit FAQs
What's the difference between fascia and soffit?
Fascia is the vertical board running along the roof edge, facing outward — it caps the rafter ends and carries your gutters. Soffit is the horizontal panel underneath the overhang, between the fascia and your wall. Soffit is usually vented, and those perforations are how outside air enters your attic.
Why did my fascia rot?
Because water is arriving from above, repeatedly. The usual causes are missing or wrongly sequenced drip edge, gutters overflowing or pitched backward, or a roof edge that was never detailed properly. Rain hitting the board directly isn't what destroys it. This is why replacing rotted fascia without correcting the cause guarantees you'll be replacing it again.
Do soffit vents really matter?
They're half the ventilation system. Cool air enters through the soffits, rises, and exits at the ridge — remove the intake and the whole thing stops working. Florida attics routinely exceed 150°F when ventilation fails, and that heat cooks asphalt shingles from underneath. A 25-year roof can be finished in 15. Adding a ridge vent to a house with blocked soffits achieves very little.
Can soffit damage cause my roof to fail in a hurricane?
It's a documented failure mode. Soffit panels are among the first components to blow out in high wind. Once they go, wind enters the attic and pressurises it — pushing up against the roof deck from inside while the wind pulls from outside. Homes lose roofs this way without the covering itself failing first. Properly secured soffit is genuinely part of your roof's wind performance.
Something is living in my soffit. What now?
Get it out before anything gets sealed. Squirrels, roof rats, and birds all enter through damaged soffit, and closing the opening with something inside makes it considerably worse. If you suspect bats, stop entirely — they're protected in Florida and there's a defined maternity season during which exclusion is prohibited by law. Contact a licensed wildlife professional, then we'll close the opening properly once the property is clear.
Should I use aluminium, wood, or vinyl?
Aluminium for most Florida homes — it won't rot, won't be eaten, and holds colour under UV. Wood is right on historic or architecturally specific properties, but Florida humidity makes the maintenance a genuine commitment. Vinyl is cheapest and shows it: it can sag in sustained heat and is less resilient in wind. Composite and PVC are worth considering if you want a painted wood look without the upkeep.
Do I need the whole perimeter replaced?
Usually not. Rot tends to be localised — a corner, a section behind a gutter joint, one run beneath a valley. We quote what needs replacing rather than defaulting to the whole house. The exception is aluminium wrapping for appearance, where patching looks like patching — we'll flag that and let you decide.
Which areas do you serve?
We're licensed statewide, with crews working regularly through Martin, St. Lucie, Palm Beach, Broward, and Southwest Florida — including Stuart, Palm City, Port St. Lucie, Jupiter, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Naples, and Fort Myers.
Related
Gutters hang off the fascia, so the two jobs almost always go together — see gutter installation and replacement. If your roof is due for replacement, it's cheaper to handle the roof edge at the same time: residential roof replacement.
Ventilation is the reason soffit matters most — more on that in shingle installation. Seeing water inside rather than at the roof edge? That's roof leak repair. Not sure what you're dealing with? Book a free roof inspection and we'll check the whole roof edge while we're there.
Find Out Why
It Rotted
Free inspection covering the fascia, the soffit, the drip edge, and your attic ventilation — with photographs and a quote for what actually needs replacing.