The fascia board on the Gable end of a home is called a "barge rafter". Often these rafters extend past the eaves to create a place to hide the end of the gutter or as a decorative element. It is important that the top edge be properly flashed with either roofing materials or a metal flashing to prevent decay/rot in the ends of the rafter. This first picture shows good examples of nicely capped barge rafters (foreground and background).
NOTE: the Beautiful Blue Seattle Sky
This next picture shows what will happen if it is not properly capped.
In this case more than the end is deteriorated and most likely the whole rafter will need to be replaced. Fortunately the roof needs replacement as well, which will make replacement of the rafter easier---and should be replaced in conjunction with the roof replacement (these rafters are very difficult to replace without removing the roofing above it).
If the ends of the rafters on your home are not properly capped it is a pretty simple thing to fix and can save a lot of costly repairs later on.
Charles Buell
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hhhmm,That is interesting. At least it is safe to say that these "barges" don't have to worry about sinking.
Sean Allen
Hi Charles,
I can see us all running around checking to see if our barge rafters are nicely capped!!! Thank you for the information. Maybe you should give us a check sheet.
Sean, that "barge" was so wet it probably wouldn't float:)
Leslie, so how did they look?
Virginia, flashing details are often lacking in many locations around the home.
Melissa, I don't know which one you are looking at, but some are better than others. I personally like this one. I see a lot of these in this area and have yet to see any that were clogged. I think in really really heavy rains a certain amount of run-by could be expected with all of the different brands. I will try to do a blog on this soon.
Michael, I saw a contractors truck with lettering that said: "We are attention to detail"
Joseph---no shortage of stuff to share is there!
Charlie,
That is one of those over and over and over agains.
Steve----ditto ditto ditto ditto
Brian, thanks,
Kathleen, It is difficult to see what is really going on with a roof from the eaves let alone the ground!
Kim, thanks for the comment, can we say "Activerain?"
Joan, where they do extend past the roof is very common here---perhaps some of the other inspectors will report back as to the prevalence in other parts of the country.
Michele, thanks for taking a look.
Heather, let me know if you see one float by:)
Keith, hard to imagine that you don't have at least as many as we do.
Robert, thanks for stopping by.
Thanks Barbara----I just Barged right in:)
Good posting, Charles, and a Beautiful Blue Sky, In Seattle of all places. The media tells us it is always raining there. A second lesson to be learned. Don't believe everything we hear. Grin
Have a great day!
Hal
Richard and Kevin, thanks for stopping by.
Wayne, I find too many of these rotted rafter ends to count.
Ryan, thanks for stopping by
Bob & Carolin, there are an amazing bunch of construction words that have strage meanings out of context (future blog fodder---no doubt)!
Harold, Colleen, it is one thing for people to discover that we have blue sky here, wait until they find out we have water too. Maybe we better go back to lying about the rain?
Christy, want to see some really bad ones?
Melissa, I assume you mean my other blog?
umm...you said this in reply to me earlier, I've just been too busy to get back timely.
Melissa, I don't know which one you are looking at, but some are better than others. I personally like this one. I see a lot of these in this area and have yet to see any that were clogged. I think in really really heavy rains a certain amount of run-by could be expected with all of the different brands. I will try to do a blog on this soon.
to be correct it is called a varge rafter not barge
To unknown commenter:) Some areas refer to this rafter as a Varge Rafter----but most places it is refered to it as a Barge Rafter. If you do a Wiki on Varge you get nothing but tons on Barge.
Interesting.... I was just going to ask about the varge/barge debate. I had not made up my mind which was correct. I usually call them rake rafters just to avoid confusion.
Good post and I like your pics. I have been shrinking mine down but I think I will keep them big like yours.
Jim, looks like you are digging around in the "archives":) I think "rake rafters" works too.