Roofing Projects · October 2, 2026
Rotted Fascia & Gutter Rebuild on a 1920s West Highland Bungalow
Gutter Work · Denver, CO
A 1920s brick bungalow in West Highland, Denver had a gutter problem that was really a wood problem. The front corner fascia had rotted clean through from years of overflow. This Gutter Work job cut out the bad wood, set in primed LP SmartSide trim, and hung new 6 inch dark bronze aluminum gutters. Two days, start to finish.
What did this corner look like before we touched it?
Before: the gutter line sagged off the front corner, a downspout had come loose at the bottom, and the fascia behind it all was soft clear through from years of overflow. After: that rotted board is gone. New painted LP SmartSide trim sits in its place, drip edge runs the whole roofline now, and the dark bronze gutters hang clean and level.
BeforeAfter
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Why cut the fascia out instead of just covering it with new gutters?
Fascia is the board the gutter actually hangs on. Put a new gutter on rotted wood and it fails again within a season or two, no matter how good the aluminum is. On this bungalow the corner board was soft enough to push a finger through. We cut it back to solid wood, set in primed LP SmartSide trim, painted it, and ran new drip edge before the gutters went up. Original trim on a house built in the 1920s was never built to handle decades of standing overflow. Patching it would have bought a year, maybe two, before the same spot failed again.
Why 6 inch dark bronze gutters with hidden hangers here?
The old setup was undersized and hung on spikes that back out of the wood over time, which is likely why that corner sagged in the first place. We formed the new gutters on site in one continuous length per run, so there's no mid-run seam to clog or leak. Hidden hangers screw into the new fascia every couple feet and hold the trough level under a full load of water. Dark bronze reads better against old brick than bright white does. The 3x4 downspouts tie into splash blocks that carry water away from the foundation instead of dumping it right at the corner. That's where the old overflow started this whole mess in the first place. See more of our gutter work in Denver for other houses with the same kind of trim damage.
How do you know a gutter and fascia job like this was done right?
We take photos of the damage before we cut into anything, then photos of the finished corner after. Same thing we do on every roofing in Denver job, so the homeowner can see what was rotted and what replaced it. On this job that meant pictures of the rotted fascia core before demo and the painted trim and new gutters after. Once the new gutters were up, we ran a magnet over the yard and driveway to pick up stray screws and cut-off hanger pieces from the old teardown. Nothing gets left in the grass.
Frequently asked questions
Do gutters actually matter for the house, or just the yard?
They matter for the house. On this bungalow, a sagging gutter line let water pool against the fascia for years, and that's what rotted the wood through at the corner. Bad gutters don't just make a mess in the yard, they rot the trim and eventually the roof deck behind it too.
Why was water pooling near the foundation at this house?
The old downspout had worked loose and was dumping water straight down at the corner instead of carrying it away. The new 3x4 downspouts tie into splash blocks that move runoff away from the foundation, the way the old setup should've worked from the start.
Why not just patch the rotted fascia instead of replacing it?
Because the rot ran through the whole board at that corner, not just the surface. Capping soft wood traps moisture underneath it and the gutter still has nothing solid to hang on. We cut it back to sound wood and installed new primed LP SmartSide trim instead.
How long does a job like this take?
This one took two days: removing the old gutters, cutting out and replacing the rotted fascia section, painting the new trim, adding drip edge, then forming and hanging the new gutters and downspouts.
Was the yard cleaned up after the work was done?
Yes. We ran a magnet sweep across the yard and driveway after the old gutters and hangers came down, picking up loose screws and cut-off metal before we left.
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