Replacing my own Fascia Covers and Soffits

Hey guys,

I'm in the process of having my roof redone . Singles are on just waiting for the new white gutters to go up in a few days. Talked to them about replacing the brown aluminum fascia covers and brown soffits with white to modernize and match the house.

They want to charge $3200 for it, saying the cost is to custom bend all the fascia from a roll of aluminum and is mostly labor intensive. I have 6" fascia around the home, home depot happens to make this for $14 per 12 ft but they won't use it because it is "crap". Having a hard time justifying the cost.

I've looked up how you replace fascia and soffit and it looks as simple as pulling down the old stuff, cutting soffit sections to size and insert into the existing J channel, screw/nail into bottom of fascia wood, then slip the fascia covers under the drip edge and under the bottom of the soffit and screw/nail again. Hardest part looks to be working at heights around the top of the house and making the cuts and bends on the corners. Am I underestimating the difficulty?

Most time we see aluminum covering wood that is rotten, you might be opening a can of worms and you can paint aluminum.
Are the soffets vinyl or aluminum.

I believe the current soffits are aluminum, no soffits on the gable ends of the house just the fascia covers. If the wood is already rotten underneath I'd just be hiding the problem longer by painting no? At least if I replace I'll be able to see and take further action if needed I'd think.

YamiLionheart said:

I believe the current soffits are aluminum, no soffits on the gable ends of the house just the fascia covers. If the wood is already rotten underneath I'd just be hiding the problem longer by painting no? At least if I replace I'll be able to see and take further action if needed I'd think.

Click to expand...

True, but it should have been addressed before the roof was done

The company I used seemed very professional I think they would've told me if they noticed the fascia boards were rotted underneath the covers. Or I hope so at least. They installed new drip edge around the entire house so hopefully they would've seen the state of the fascia boards. Let's say the wood is fine though, would you say that installing the new aluminum fascia and soffit is particularly difficult?

You seldom see these guys working off ladders. They use scaffolding of some kind. I don't think it is all that difficult.

Got a few pictures of the home so we can get an idea of the issues you may run into.
Are you talking about the premade vinyl or the aluminum fachia?
No way would I ever suggest using the vinyl !!!
Where that premade stuff can look funky is at the boxing on the ends of the roof where it meets the rakes.
Doing this is a simple job to me because I do it all the time and already own all the tools needed.
This is a list of the tools I'd bring if I was doing it.
Hammer
Snips, http://malcoproducts.com/product/ro...l/hand-snips-e/andy-aluminum-handled-snips-14
Trim nail punch, http://www.menards.com/main/buildin...4438824223-c-5824.htm?tid=8340501251088351195
Seamers, http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-jaw-straight-sheet-metal-seamer-98728.html
Bevel gauge
Oval hole punch for the trim nails.
Two extention ladders with stand offs. (no need for any form of staging !)
Tape measure.
Some of the most common DIY mistakes I've seen over the years when doing this job.
Ending up with a short piece of material on one end of the run, (just looks bad to do it that way)
Not bending at least a 1/2 tab on the ends of the run on the lower part of the roof, (which will leave an exposed end if it's not there)
Just butting the two pieces at the peak of the roof, (the first piece needs to run past the peak, bottom bend gets cut off leaving it at least 1/2" long so it can be bent over to the other side to cover the gap.
Way to many face nails, I prepunch the seam at the bottom with a punch that makes small oval shaped hole which makes it easier to get the nail in. Only face nails I use is where the pieces over lap.
I'd strongly suggest not using the aluminum nails sold in the siding area at the box stores and use stainless steel trim nails instead. The aluminum nails are to big and are hard to drive in, they love to bend, they end up bending the metal.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to get outside later today and get some better pictures but I have these with me from when I was taking some shots of the roof work that was done earlier.

I'd go with the aluminum for everything I suppose. I guess it holds up better than vinyl?

I'd have to invest in a taller ladder, the ones with the standoffs definitely seem like a good idea so i dont kill myself up there lol.

I saw a video of one guy using screws to attach the soffits and fascias, can you comment on whether or not screws or nails are better to attach them to the house?

IMGUR Album: http://imgur.com/a/T5iPi

I know these aren't very good. I'l try to get some better pictures later.

Never use screws for trim coil !
Is that pictures of the new roof, if so I'm seeing some real sloppy work.
There never should have been gaps in the corners like that.
Where the two section over lap the seam should have been near invisable.
Sure looks like there's not enough over hang in that last picture.

I,d disagree on not using screws on coil unless you are using stainless nails. Aluminum nails tend to pop out.Soffit and fascia are fairly simple to install. Screwing it on would be easier to do than nailing.

I would agree on drip edge being very sloppy and it should be the same colour as fascia