I need to have about 100 ft of my fascia and soffit replaced, and I'm thinking about doing it myself. But before I proceed further, I would like some expert opinions:
Thanks,
Adam
Handy-man can do it - there's no such thing as a "professional soffit installer."
If your hand fits a hammer, you can probably do it, too. Once you take the old ones down, you'll see how they were erected.
Whatever you like. Latex exterior house paint is probably easiest. Hint: Paint the boards BEFORE you put them up - it's easier. Then all you do is "touch up" the finished construction.
No. I don't know about your fascia, but the soffit boards are probably 1/4" plywood. A power saw and some saw horses are indicated.
Now here's an interesting thing: You can't have too many soffit vents. In your case, these could be large openings in the soffits covered with wire mesh (to keep out the birds). Create these vents before you mount the soffits.
There are composition fascia boards that are not wood and should last much longer according to the manufacturers. They saw like wood.
The above advice may be correct, depending upon where you live. In this area of central Florida, soffits are usually perforated aluminum sections without separate soffit vents. The entire soffit area is perforated and allows airflow. The soffit comes in 12' long sections, 2 panels wide, and you cut them to the right length for your particular requirements. They come in white and bronze. Other styles/colors are probably available from roofers or aluminum sources.
I used to try and do my own maintenance work, but now I've got enough other tasks that I don't want to spend hours doing things a qualiafied tradesman can do in minutes. In my case, during renovations the roofing company installed new soffit material. For reasons that aren't worth explaining they left a gap of about 9" at one corner. There was interference with an adjacent wall and awning over a doorway and I didn't want to take the time to buy a single section of soffitt, maneuver around the obstructions and insert this small section so I prevailed on the renovation contractor to get it done. The aluminum screen-room guy was able to get it done in about 45 minutes once he had the right materials. It would have taken me hours, left me with a lot of left-over material, and wouldn't have been as neat a job as he did.
The reason I even mention this is that you may want to check your soffits to see if you have any areas that are difficult to reach or where working on them would be difficult -- if so, you may want a roofing company or aluminum company to do the work, since they're faced with those problems every day. Regards --
snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote on 29 Jul 2007 in group alt.home.repair:
I charge $30/hour in Fort Worth, TX. Just giving you a SWAG, I'd say it's probably a two-day job, but could be much less depending on your level of expertise. Every job takes longer than you expect because you find something unexpected when you take the house apart. Blame that on the idiot lazy carpenter who put it there to start with, then move on.
You can probably do it yourself, if you're careful. You'll screw up the first piece, everybody does, so start somewhere hidden. Getting the old wood off without damaging the stuff that stays is a big part of the problem, so be careful.
Ask at your favorite REAL paint store what kind of paint to use. I usually buy Sherwin Williams because I get a 30% discount, but all the manufacturers sell pretty good stuff. The guys at the Lowes Depot counter are sometimes retired painters, so you might even get good advice there, if you're lucky. I seldom go the the big box stores.
You'll need a pry bar to take off the old materials. I recommend a pneumatic hammer to keep your arm from falling off nailing upsidedown. You can rent one or borrow it from a buddy. Get a helper to hold the soffet pieces up while you nail them. An alternative is a couple of T- shaped braces made from 2x4, but the helper is much better -- s/he can run for the first aid kit.
Screws are so much easier. Well, easier than a hammer.
A pneumatic nailer, as you indicate, would be the best.
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