I am looking for opinions on what to do with the rake boards and soffit on my 1920’s bungalow. Do I strip, sand and paint the rake boards and soffit or cover with aluminum and vinyl? The house is asbestos sided, a nice place but we aren’t talking a stunning Victorian that I am restoring.
<!—-><!—-> <!—->
Option 1: Restore the rake boards and soffit. The rake boards have almost no paint left on them and the soffit has been painted probably 30 times. So I would have to strip, sand, epoxy and paint the rake boards and soffit – both sides of the house. On one side I would need to rent scaffolding to do it because the boundary line is so close, the other I can use ladders. I only do this on weekends, so it would take me a good amount of time to do both sides.
<!—-> <!—->
Option 2: Hire someone to cover rake boards with aluminum and the soffit with vinyl. One quote said it would take one day.
<!—-> <!—->
The dilemma is classic: spend a lot of time and effort to do it the way I want or the short cut that gets it done, but I don’t like.
<!—-> <!—->
Any thoughts? Joe, <!—-> <!—-><!—->Boston<!—->, <!—->MA<!—-> <!—->
Replies
How about just replacing the soffit and rake boards yourself with something suitable. Azek or the like. You could rout some decorative design in the rake boards if you wanted to. It would look better than wrapped trim to me. It also would be much faster and probably superior to restoration or covering up with aluminum.
I agree n the Azek/composite route, as soffit material as well as other trim is readily available. Covering up the wood with metal/vinyl will trap moisture underneath, and the wood will eventually rot out.
J
Renaissance Restorations LLC
Victorian Home Restoration Services
http://www.renaissancerestorations.com
Yeah, I'll third that. We replaced our fascia with a composite about 15 years ago, and I've not been sorry. Covering the old stuff would have created a major rot potential.