Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilation holes

[LJMeek]

I'm planning to replace both the soffits and fascias on my two-storey house. It was built in 1906.

It has cast iron ogee gutters that sit in a cutout section at the end of the joists; the joists sick out about 10 inches from the walls. The soffits and fascias are attached to the underside and ends of these joists.

A couple of the gutter sections, no doubt sealed together with putty, started leaking and dripping onto the soffits. This resulted in a couple of the soffits rotting. A couple of years ago, I got a local builder to reseal all the gutter sections. He was worse than useless as he managed to remove any putty that was still providing a seal. The result is that ALL gutter sections are now leaking on to their soffits. This is serious as the joists are getting wet.

As I wont trust anyone to do a good job, I've decided to do reseal the gutters and replace the soffits/fascias myself.

However, the advice I'm looking for is this: houses of this style were built 100 years ago; nowhere on the soffits or fascias are any ventilation holes; apart from the (recent in 100 year timescale) problem I described above, the loft space is perfectly dry; so, do houses of this style need ventilation holes? There's no obvious movement of air in the loft, even on windy days (though I'm not saying the loft is hermetically sealed).

Basically, if the house lasted for 100 years without ventilation holes, why bother fitting them now? Are ventilation holes for eaves only for modern houses, or just a modern fad?

[Background: two storey house, sandstone exterior, exposed west of Scotland location, fibreglass loft insulation.]

Any help much appreciated.

Ta.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Personally I think this fashion for howling draughts in yer loft is so much bunkum.

It arose I suspect when people started felting..no natural draught through the tiles or slates. And then adding ceiling loft insulation made the loft a very cold place indeed..and condensation then rears its ugly head.

So we were then told to fit vapour barriers between the habitable space and the loft, but they still kept these massive ventilation requirements.

Frankly I feel that a couple of vents at each end of a gable roof is by far and away all you need. But the regs say otherwise.

[LJMeek]

I suppose you might be right. I'm reasonably sure that the roof (rafter, sark, slate) doesn't have felt on it.

If that's the case, would I be OK to ignore soffit vents?

I've looked through the (Scottish) Building Regulations and I can't find where soffit vents are demanded.

[Lobster]

Does it feel draughty up in the roof space, especially when windy?

David

[LJMeek]

I suppose you might be right. I'm reasonably sure that the roof (rafter, sark, slate) doesn't have felt on it.

If that's the case, would I be OK to ignore soffit vents?

I've looked through the (Scottish) Building Regulations and I can't find where soffit vents are demanded.

[dennis]

Do the gutters seal between the roof and the facia? I doubt it so there will be plenty of draughts.

IIRC you can get metal gutters made up in one length these days.. probably better than resealing the cast iron ones but more expensive.

[LJMeek]

The gutters don't seal between the roof and the fascia. However, there is a small vertical board on the attic side of the gutter. It doesn't seal, as such, but no light comes through from the outside.

The upmost side of the soffits can be seen from the attic, again with no obvious light coming in. The bottom of the gutters can be felt as they span between the joists in the attic.

There's no obvious movement of air in the loft, even on windy days (though I'm not saying the loft is hermetically sealed).

[The Natural Philosopher]

well they usually are, but if you have slates that lets the wind in. ignore the bloody things and to hell wit the inspectors.

I lived in an attic flat that had no roof insulation and no central heating and gappy slates once. Christ it was cold..I carwled up into teh loft to see why..sub zero blizzard in there. Then I moved.

[UHAP023]

: Personally I think this fashion for howling draughts in yer loft is so : much bunkum.

: It arose I suspect when people started felting..no natural draught : through the tiles or slates. And then adding ceiling loft insulation : made the loft a very cold place indeed..and condensation then rears its : ugly head.

: So we were then told to fit vapour barriers between the habitable space : and the loft, but they still kept these massive ventilation requirements.

: Frankly I feel that a couple of vents at each end of a gable roof is by : far and away all you need. But the regs say otherwise.

I've also heard that when replacing old wooden soffit boards with modern plastic ones the vents are required because the wood was 'breathable' while the plastic effectively makes a seal. I found that after the installation of plastic soffit boards with vents on a house with rooms built into the loft and not much insulation between the loft-rooms floors and second floor ceilings (the loft extension was done in the late 60's), a cold wind really chills those rooms.

Tom.

[LJMeek]

I'll be using wood for the soffits and fascias. I'm planning to give them primer, undercoat two times and gloss coat three times, all done at grade before the scaffold arrives. A final touch-up coat will be done once everything's been nailed on.

With this much paint, I doubt the wood will be in any condition to breathe.

[FKruger]

you need to put primer on the nails before the final touch up. The reverse side of the wood can be left bare or with a microporus stain so that the wood can breath.

[Andrew Gabriel]

This is exactly what I've done in the past. Buy the timber well in advance so it can dry out to its natural moisture level and you can discard pieces which warp badly or split (can be as much as 70% of the timber). I cut and temporarily nailed the pieces in place first to check the fit. Then I took them down and started preparing them with a liberal coat of rot proofer.

I primed the back, but didn't put topcoat on it.

Some other tips...

In all likelyhood any felt will have rotted off and it won't reach into the gutter anymore. Fit eaves trays along the tops of the facias. These go under the roof felt and overhang into the gutter, and prevent any water running down the facias.

If you aren't using eaves trays, cut the top edge of the facias at the same angle as the slope on the bottom row of tiles. This means the tile/felt rests on the surface, rather than just the front edge, and is less likely to damage the paint. When doing this, the front edge will need to be the same height as the original facia board, and the back edge taller.