# Soffit materials



## Dawson (May 5, 2011)

Hey all. New guy here, the name's Ben. First post here after a whole lot of reading!

I live in the midwest (think St Louis, MO / Paducah Ky). My house was built in the 70's and has wood soffit and fascia. There are several places along the eaves (gutter edges) where the fascia and soffit is rotted/peeling/falling apart. I am hoping to be getting a new roof in the next few weeks and am planning on replacing the soffit and fascia along the gutter edges on my own. I know all about the aluminum and vinyl options but want to keep it as close to the original as possible. I'm thinking cedar 1x6 for the fascia but didn't know what to use for soffit. I have seen a recently constructed sub-division that had some sort of 1/4" soffit board in which half of the board was covered in 1/4" holes for venting. I've been scouring the net for info on this material but have came up empty. The board seems like it could be a wood material, or maybe a fiber/cement based board??? I'm not entirely sure.


Anyone have suggestions on what type of board/wood/other I could use for my soffiting?

Thanks in advance everyone! Sorry for the lengthy post! Looking forward to being a part of your community.


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## sixeightten (Feb 10, 2009)

They do make a perforated fiber cement soffit. I have used it, but do not like the results. How about a 3/8 fir plywood soffit? It can be stained to match the cedar, and a continuous aluminum vent can be used.


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## Dawson (May 5, 2011)

I can't find any information on the fiber cement soffit at any of the BBS (Menards, HD, Lowes). Would 3/8" be minimum for fir? I'm assuming it's resilient like cedar? What is the continuous aluminum vent? Like a drip edge vent???


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## sixeightten (Feb 10, 2009)

Continuous aluminum vent is 2"x10' strips of punched aluminum. We generally run a 2" strip of fir soffit, the 2" aluminum vent, and then the remainder is fir as well. Most of our soffits are 12" so that would mean the back strip of fir is about 8". Framing is installed first to give you something to attach the soffit to.


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## sixeightten (Feb 10, 2009)

It looks like this


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## Dawson (May 5, 2011)

Thats a good idea.. Thanks.

Where can I find more info/price on the fiber cement? The less I have to cut and build, the better I'll like it.


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## sixeightten (Feb 10, 2009)

Call a few lumber yards in your area. This is basically what you are talking about.


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## Dawson (May 5, 2011)

Yes, that's the material I've seen only without as much woodgrain pattern.

Thanks for the info, I'll see what the local yard has.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

I wouldn't use the f.c. products here; http://www.certainteed.com/resources/soffitspecsheet.pdf

They only have a -7 NFVA per ft. and that's 12" deep. The vent should be located next to the fascia board for optimal air-flow, pp. 616: http://books.google.com/books?id=Z8...page&q=attic airflow with gable vents&f=false

The box stores carry the double-direction louvered continuous metal strips that help stop the snow/rain coming in to the attic with the wind up the house wall. If calculating your NFVA with 150/ attic area and have a ridge vent with 18 NFVA per ft., you'll need 9 NFVA as the box store vent is for each side of the gable soffits to match #'s. http://www.airvent.com/homeowner/products/intakeSoffit-specs.shtml

Gary


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

If the soffit is going to paint I use Breckenridge Plywood in conjunction with the continuous vent that sixeigtten shows in post #5.

Breckenridge is an exterior grade clear plywood with a slightly rough surface. If done right it’s a real clean look.

I only use Hardi Soffit when they make me.


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