Been siding for years and for years I’ve had a problem w/ my aluminum facia getting wavy under certain conditions. Tried using prebent because its more rigid but problem remains. I’m capping over 3/4 pine could the lumber be shrinking? (damn depot lumber) I’ve thought about using plywood but I’ve never seen it done before although I can’t figure out why it wouldn’t work. Any ideas?
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In our past experience we have found that if you pre-drill your facia with a slightly bigger drill bit, then hang the facia not nailing it tightly seems to help out.
It's usually the aluminum that heats up and expands, more than the wood. We never face nail it, and try to grab it under drips with hemmed pieces.
Buy a slot cutter punch. It punches the same size slot in the aluminum as the ones in the edge of the soffit panels. As others have said, don't nail it up tight, and the slots will let it expand and contract around the nails.
Worst problem I've had with it was where 2 pieces butt together. I used to lap them over and nail through both.
Now hold the first nail back about 16" in the first piece I put up. When I put on the overlapping piece, I hold the first nail back just short of the first piece I put up.
The world's full of apathy, but I don't care
It's a little more work but if you add a firring strip to the upper half of your 1x6 facia, and the n bend your alum. around that and tuck up under the drip edge, the extra bend keeps most of the wavyness out. This adds a nice look also. Nailing through the lower edge rather than face nailing, and using slots or oversize nail holes helps too.
Bish