Loose Fascia Board: Fix or Replace?

It’s not unusual for fascia board – the vertical edging around a roof – to come loose. Find out when to repair and when to replace fascia, and which screws secure it best.

LESLIE: Now we’ve got Martin on the line who wants to talk about loose fascia board. That is an excellent design detail on the exterior. What can we do for you?

MARTIN: The fascia boarding that connects the ceiling of my porch roof to the overhang has separated from the ceiling. And I want to know, should I rip out and replace the fascia? Or can I just seal it and maybe put a larger molding over it?

TOM: Well, if you have loose fascia board, then I would tell you to re-secure the fascia board. And that’s actually not an unusual thing to happen, because the nails that hold that are usually going into the ends of the rafters behind it. They tend to expand and contract a lot.

But what I would do is I would tell you to re-secure it but do it with screws, not with nails. If you use long screws – like 2½ inch, case-hardened drywall screws or wood trim screws – that will pull that fascia board back in tight and it’ll be impossible for it to loosen up again.

So don’t think of it in terms of something covering it. Just put it back where it was but use screws instead of nails and it won’t come out again, OK?

MARTIN: And do I do that by going under the molding?

TOM: Well, you want to try to get that loose fascia board re-secured in, so if that is going to require you to take off a piece of molding to get to it, then that’s what you do. But you want to get to the original fascia and tighten it up. Now, if you discover rotted fascia, you’ll want to replace it – so keep an eye out for that when you remove it.

MARTIN: OK. I can do that, then. Thank you very much.