What to use for facia replacement?

[Dave Solly]

I need to replace the facia all around the house. It is presently a pressed "paper" product that is falling apart.

My first thought was wood, but would a cememt board product such as Hardie (SP), or a plastic type product be better? How about hanging gutters on a cement or plastic product? Any problems there?

Thanks.

Dave

[trader4]

I need to replace the facia all around the house. It is presently a pressed "paper" product that is falling apart.

My first thought was wood, but would a cememt board product such as Hardie (SP), or a plastic type product be better? How about hanging gutters on a cement or plastic product? Any problems there?

Thanks.

Dave "

Facia boards tend to be prone to rot. Given the labor involved, I would not replace it with wood. I'd go with either a vinyl product or the cement based product. They also have the advantage of not having any possibility of warping.

[John Willis]

On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 16:22:02 GMT, Dave Solly scribbled this interesting note:

What you have is MDF facia. I call it cardboard.

You have several options ranging from pine to composite. Redwood is always a good option but it splits easily when installing and is expensive. Personally, if I were doing this job on my house I'd use one of the composite materials such as Hardie.

As for gutters, the weight of the gutter should never simply be attached to the facia, rather it sould be attached to what is behind the facia. If your house has a 2X4 band across the rafter tails then installing gutters is simple since no matter where you fasten you have a solid substrait. If not, then gutter fasteners should be installed directly into the rafter tails.

One of the things we do when doing a complete tear off and deck job is make certain gutter fasteners are installed into the rafter tails. This is one of the minor items that most clients have no idea we do. Just something that ought to be taken care of and is easy to do while we are there. Having the roof entirely off makes it easy to locate the rafter tails and get the gutter fasteners perfectly installed. Similarly in your project, while you have the facia off, take note of the location of all rafter tails (mark the new facia somehow) so you will know where they are.

Good luck.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

[RicodJour]

Both the fiber-cement and pvc (such as Azek) work well. The plastic products shouldn't be painted dark colors as they will warp in the sun. You can use gutters with either product, but you should hang the gutters from the rafter tails and not rely on the strength of the fascia board itself.

R

[Dave Solly]

"RicodJour" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks for all your input. I question about the hanging of gutters was more in line with the huge spikes they use, and is there a problem with pounding those through a non-wood product.

Dave

[Grandpa Koca]

There's also anodized aluminum that can be installed (large choice of colors). Never needs painting (a plus in my book).

[Colbyt]

The concealed gutter hanging bracket which is installed with screws instead of those "big spikes" seems to work and hold a lot better IMO.

Colbyt

[John Willis]

On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 16:42:29 -0500, "Colbyt" scribbled this interesting note:

But they still need to use a long enough screw to grab the rafter tails behind the fascia.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

[USENET READER]

One thing about the hardi product is that they can't be edge nailed, you need a subfascia, and you also need to keep all uncoated aluminum away from the hardiplank.

The hardiplank fascia trim boards looked at first like an idea product, but I have been taking to several contractors and they have had problems with using them as fascia boards even with subfascia. I was thinking of Azek or Royal Moldings, but my house is a medium gray color and I don't want to leave the fascia white - I would want to paint it. I am going to use the Hardisofit product, and I will have to install a full subfascia against either along the rafter tails (but this would add to the width of the soffit), or block them up between the rafter tails (would keep the original soffit width, but not sure about the strength), or cut the rafter tails and add the subfascia.

Now the next question is - what do I used for subfascia - they recommened 2x lumber, but do I use regular wood, pressure-treated, or that synthetic wood like they use for decks (Miratek)?

Grandpa Koca wrote:

[John Willis]

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 05:35:01 GMT, USENET READER scribbled this interesting note:

Use what makes you feel best about the finished work. Water shouldn't be getting behind the fascia so I don't see that treated or synthetic stock would gain you all that much of an advantage. If water does penetrate, then you have a whole host of other problems you need to deal with.

2X4 stock is typically used as a band across the rafter tails. If you don't want to make the soffit wider then take the time to put this between the rafter tails as you describe.

Remember, when installing fascia, put a straight edge on top of the rafter. Push the fascia board up until the outside corner just touches the bottom of the straight edge and no higher. Decking can then be installed down to the edge of the fascia and the metal drip edge will fit nicely over all. If you install the fascia all the way up until the back side of the fascia board is flush with the top of the rafter tail you will create leaks through the bottom course of shingles.

Little details make a large difference. I can't tell you how many times we've had to contend with this particular problem when roofing houses.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

[Dave Solly]

USENET READER wrote in news:9_L2e.9310 $ [e-mail]:

Interesting about the uncoated aluminum. Isn't that what the drip edegs are made of??

Dave

[USENET READER]

Some are, and some are not - but James Hardy doesn't want you to use uncoated aluminum that contacts any of their products. You could prime and paint the aluminum or use something that wouldn't have a galvanic reaction with the concrete in the hardiproduct

Dave Solly wrote:

[Scott Cox]

We use regular pine 2x along the tails and usually cap it with cedar facia.