Aluminum soffit installation problem-How would the pros handle this problem?

[Me]

Hi guys,

I'm planning on installing aluminum soffit and fascia on my garage. The garage is ~20 years old, with existing wood soffit and fascia which hangs

1.25" below the soffit. In other words, the soffit is countersunk approx 1.25". The soffit and fascia look similar to this: After doing some reading I have come up with two questions for which I can not find an answer.

1) According to the installation guides the J-channel is screwed/nailed into the existing soffit along the garage wall, the soffit is cut to the appropriate length, then placed into the J-channel and the opposite end is screwed/nailed into the into the bottom of the fascia board. Kind of like this:

(look at the last pic). However if I did that my soffit would be at an angle due to the extra 1.25" of fascia board, which would look like sh*t. So, how would the pros handle this problem?

-install it on an angle?

-run a furring strip along the garage to make the J-channel level with the bottom of the fascia? (This seems like a lot of work.)

-purchase a special product to handle this situation?

F-channel is not an option because it would be difficult to screw into stucco.

2) Currently, there are no ventilation holes. Should I drill a few 2" holes in the existing wood soffit prior to installing the aluminum soffit? I find my garage is very humid in the winter/spring and my tools are rusting. The interior of the garage is unfinished (bare studs and trusses). Any advice is greatly appreciated.

TIA, Curt :)

[Mark Forkheim]

Actually, looking at picture 4, it does look like they are installing it at an angle (look at the shadow from inside to out). If it seems like too much of an angle, then either your idea of the furring strip or just run a circular saw along the edge to cut down the 1.25".

As for 2 - I would think 2" is rather small. Either get a 4" hole saw or do what they are doing in Picture 1 and use a jig saw.

Just my 2 cents

Mark

Me wrote:

[email_me]

You need ventilation, it will be covered by the new soffit. We painted a house and garage once, and the garage had wood soffit that had half inch holes a couple of inches apart the whole soffit ( they had screen stapled on the inside to keep bugs out), it was quite cool inside even in 28C weather.

[Colbyt]

Cross-posting removed.

Not claiming to be a Pro here but I have ran the track a few times.

I have never used J-channel for a soffitt install and don't think I would. The F is much better made than the J to carry the weight. You should physically compare the two products.

The nail flange on the F will just about even out the difference if you install it with the flange up. Personally I like a 1/4-1/2" per foot drop away from the structure.

The furring strip is your best option if you want to proceed using J-channel.

Colbyt

[Paul Franklin]

Here's what I did. I was using vinyl, not sure if it would work with aluminum, but probably. Kind of hard to describe but I'll try. I had a long section (30-40') arranged similar to yours.

I started by putting J along one short end, and two full pieces along the long sides, fastening up into old soffit. Then I slid in enough soffit pieces to almost fill up the section with J. Then I added two more lengths of J, filled those in with soffit, and so on. As I got near the opposite end, I didn't fasten the last 5-6 feet of J, but left it dangle from the end that was fastened. I carefully slid in soffit pieces, but now pushed them farther so they overlapped the previous section. Then I fastened the remaining J, and add a piece at the end. Finally, I slide the overlapped soffit material back out into the last part of the J. Took a while to get the hang of it, but eventually worked out pretty well.

HTH,

Paul F.