The brackets under my eave have to come off. Do they go back?

Yes. On a historic building the parish LaPlace guidelines say temporarily removed architectural details go back in their original location and orientation. We number and photograph them before removal on any older house, whether or not it is in a district.

A bracket is rotten. Can you just replace it?

On a historic building the guidelines say to prioritize repair of a deteriorated detail over replacement, and prefer a salvaged piece where replacement is needed. Whether the bracket counts as a historic detail is for Planning and Zoning on (985) 651-5565.

Can you repair one panel or does the whole run have to go?

One panel or one section is usually enough. The run only has to go when the timber behind most of it has failed, or the profile is no longer made and a patch would show.

Why did my vinyl soffit fail if vinyl does not rot?

Something made that hole. The usual culprits are water from a gutter overflowing at its back edge, which rots the timber behind the vinyl, and animals widening a gap at a joint.

There are animals in my soffit. Can you just close it up?

Not while something is living in it. The order that works is establish what is using it, clear or exclude, then repair. An established infestation is a pest control job and we will say so.

How long does a soffit repair take?

Most section repairs are finished in a day. Two days is normal where rafter tails or fascia need work first, or a matching panel has to be ordered.

Home/Service Areas/Louisiana/LaPlace/Soffit Repair

Soffit Repair in LaPlace, LA

Big Easy Roofing repairs damaged, sagging and open soffit across LaPlace and the east bank of St. John the Baptist Parish, matched into the run you already have. Soffit rarely fails on its own, so every repair starts with the cause. On an older house there is a second rule: brackets and trim that come off to reach the eave go back where they came from.

Get Your Free Soffit Quote Call (504) 800-8196

Service

City

$8 to $22 /lfEstimated repair range

Cause firstThen the panel

1 to 2 daysMost section repairs

Section XIArchitectural details, 2024 guidelines

LaPlace soffit repair at a glance

A LaPlace soffit repair is priced by the affected run, not the house. Estimated cost is $8 to $22 per linear foot, higher at both ends than the $6 to $20 installation rate, because cutting out a failed section and matching into existing panel is slower than fitting a clean eave.

Estimated cost per lf

$8 to $22

Estimated range for cutting out and replacing a failed section, matched into the run either side. Short runs cost more per foot because the set up is the same. Every figure on this page is an estimate, not a quote.

Typical section repair

$300 to $1,400

A single elevation or one damaged run, which is what most calls turn out to be. A whole new run is priced as a soffit installation.

Which office covers you

St. John the Baptist Parish

A soffit repair is trim work, not the reroofing that Louisiana R.S. 37:3737(I) has the parish permit and inspect. We have not found a parish statement either way on soffit work, so where a repair reaches into rafter tails or roof work we ask the Permit Division on (985) 651-5565 before starting.

On an older house

Details go back where they were

The parish LaPlace guidelines say that where a project temporarily removes architectural details, they go back in their original location and orientation, and that repair of a deteriorated detail comes before replacement.

The panel is the last step

Not the first

Vinyl does not rot and aluminium does not decay, so a hole in either was made by something. Closing the panel without finding the source buys a year or two at most.

Warranty

1 yr workmanship

Big Easy Roofing workmanship warranty on the repair, with the fix at the source written into the same scope.

Every figure on this page is an estimate, not a quote, and is subject to Big Easy Roofing sign off. Cost and timescale depend on size, pitch, access, weather, materials and whatever is found once work starts, so call Big Easy Roofing on (504) 800-8196 and we will come out and give you an estimate for your own roof.

Soffit closes the underside of the eave. It keeps weather and animals out of the roof space and, where it is vented, it is the intake half of the attic ventilation. When a section fails, both stop working at that point, and the second one cannot be seen from the ground.

A repair is a diagnostic job before it is a carpentry one. The rate is higher than an installation because of the cutting in, the matching and the time spent finding what caused the failure. In this humidity a panel closed over a live water source rots the timber behind it quickly, so every scope we write names the source as well as the panel.

On an older LaPlace house there is more at the eave than panel. Brackets, braces and trim may have to come off to reach a failed section. The parish 2024 LaPlace Historic District Design Guidelines have a section on architectural details, including how details removed temporarily should be put back. Every figure on this page is an estimate, not a quote, and is subject to Big Easy Roofing sign off. Call Big Easy Roofing on (504) 800-8196 to book a visit.

Repair the run or replace it and how we decide

Five situations cover almost every soffit call we see. The answer is a repair in most of them. The deciding factor is rarely the panel itself, it is how much of the timber behind it is still sound and whether the existing profile can still be matched.

What you have	What we do	Estimated cost	Repair or replace
One or two damaged panels, rest of the run sound	Cut out the failed section, fit matched panel, close the joint into the existing run	$350 to $700	Repair
An open section with animals getting in	Clear or exclude first, close the entry, fit vent that admits air and not wildlife	$400 to $1,100	Repair
Sagging run, panel sound but channel or fixings failed	Re hang the run on new channel and fixings	$300 to $900	Repair
Rotted rafter tails or fascia behind the panel	Repair the timber first, then close the eave	Priced with the timber work	Repair, larger scope
Failure along most of the eave, or a profile no longer made	Replace the run so the elevation matches, priced as an installation	Quoted per lf	Replace

Estimated ranges only, set by the length of the affected run and what is found behind it. Damage that looks like a whole run from the ground often turns out to be one or two sections once the panel is off.

Brackets, braces and trim go back where they came from

Section XI of the parish 2024 LaPlace Historic District Design Guidelines covers architectural details: the quoins, spindles, fretwork, brackets and other features that give a building its style. It never names soffit, but a soffit repair on an older house is often where those details come off.

Temporary removal

Original location and orientation

The guidelines say: "If a project requires temporarily removing any architectural details, replace the details in the original location and orientation. Do not move them to new locations."

Repair before replacement

For a deteriorated detail

The guidelines say: "If the condition of an architectural detail is deteriorated, prioritize repair of the feature over replacement." Where one is missing or cannot be repaired, they say a salvaged element is preferable, matched in size, scale and material.

Where brackets sit on LaPlace styles

Named in the style lists

The same guidelines list corner brackets among the Queen Anne Revival features, and decorative beams or braces under gables among the Craftsman features. These features can sit near the eave, so a soffit repair may reach them.

Missing detail

Evidence, not guesswork

Where a detail is missing, the guidelines say to use historic images to determine its appearance, or historic buildings of similar age and style where images are not useful. They are on the parish Historic District Commission page.

What we do on an older eave

Our practice, not a parish rule. Before anything comes off we photograph the eave and number each bracket, brace and trim piece against its position, so it goes back in the same place and the same way round. A rotten piece is repaired where it can be, and we do not swap an old bracket for a catalogue one without saying so.

Whether a detail is historic, whether the guidelines apply at the address and whether the work needs a Certificate of Appropriateness are for Planning and Zoning on (985) 651-5565, not for us.

What we will not do

We will not fit a new panel over a fault that is still running, and we will not seal a run shut with an active nest behind it. Closing a hole with something living inside forces the animal to make a new opening or leaves it in the cavity.

The order that works is find the cause, clear or exclude, repair the timber, then close the eave, with any details back where they were.

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The things that actually break soffit

Soffit fails for a small number of reasons and they repeat from house to house. Knowing which one you have changes the scope, because most of them mean work above or behind the eave as well as at it, and a panel closed over a live cause is back on the ladder within a year or two.

Water from above

A blocked or undersized gutter overtops at the back edge in a heavy downpour, and the water runs into the fascia and along the top of the soffit where nothing dries it. The tell is staining concentrated under the gutter line. That is a gutter repair first.

Where the panel is wet from the inside face rather than from below, the water may be tracking from further up, which is a roof leak detection job before it is a soffit one.

Fascia and rafter tails behind the panel

The usual sequence is fascia first, panel next, rafter tails last. If a panel has been failing for a season, the timber behind it usually needs work too, and fascia board repair is priced as its own line.

Rafter tails are structural timber, not trim, and they are named on the scope before any panel goes back.

Wind and wildlife

Soffit is held in a channel at both edges. One panel that slips its channel in a storm becomes a lever, which is why storm damage is usually a run and not a panel. A gap at a corner is also an invitation: squirrels and rats widen an existing opening, and birds and wasps use a vent slot that has lost its screen.

Keeping the eave line checked is ordinary roof maintenance, and it is the cheapest way to stop the same section opening again.

Big Easy Roofing Soffit Repair Process

Three steps, and the first is diagnosis rather than measurement, because on a repair the question is what destroyed the panel you had.

A roofer checking a soffit and fascia line at the eave from a ladder

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Find the cause, photograph the eave

We look at the run from below and from the ladder, check the gutter and the roof edge above it, go into the attic where access allows, and photograph any brackets or trim that will have to come off.

Written scope naming the fix and the source

The scope states the run being repaired, the profile and colour being matched, any timber work behind it and the work at the source. Where the profile cannot be matched we say so and price the elevation instead.

Repair the cause, then close the eave

Timber and water source first, panel next, vented panel back where vented panel came off, and any details returned to their numbered positions. Most section repairs finish in a day or two.

Everything else we do in LaPlace

The rest of the Big Easy Roofing services available in LaPlace, each with its own page, crew and written scope. Because soffit and the fascia in front of it usually fail together, fascia work is often quoted in the same visit.

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