A friend of mine has a house that was orginally built in the 50’s.
Wet snow storm caused the cable and telephone lines to pull out. They where attached to the the side of the house and I am not sure what kind of “meat” that they connected with.
The phone cable, at least, had been pulled out in another storm before she bought the house. There where signs of damage to the siding.
That part of the house is a basic single story ranch. It is sided with aluminum and the fascia and soffit are all wraped in aluminum. Probably done in mid to late 70’s when the last additon was put on the house. From what I can see through the ripe in the siding it appears that there is foil coated fiber sheathing under the siding.
Roof if maybe 3/12 with 12″ soffit. As I said basic ranch.
I am looking for some attachment points that would be stronger. With everything wrapped in AL it is hard to tell what the structure really is or where rafters might land.
I though about putting in the bottom edge of the fascia (gutter is across the face). But it appears to only be 1by and also I am concerned about the pull out resistance of the nailing used to attach the fascia.
Note – the orginal house seems to have been well constructed. But there are numerous signs of remodeling, some not well done. For in any ohter area I have found water that was trap and the AL wraping and rot behind it. So I don’t know how secure anything is.
Another thought was that get about 3ft of cedar 2b and scew it to the underside of the soffit MAYBE hitting a rafter or two or not hitting them, but I would have some screws into the soffit. But I have no idea of what kind of material was used for the soffit or what shape that it is in.
About 18″ from this area is a window. And the window is trimmed with some 2×4 vertical cedar on each side with a knee brace at the top to the soffit. A very poor “tudor” look. I though of attaching to that, but I don’t know how well that is attached to anything as it is only decorative and not structual.
Replies
How about along a rake? There should be a solid rafter behind the aluminum and rake trim. As a bonus, you can get the wire up higher. I would think a soffit on a ranch like that would be pretty close to the ground.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
How about attaching to the header above the winddow? Another idea would be to use a stud finder, or whatever to find studs or solid framing inside the house, measuring over from the window as a reference point, and then take the same measurement on the outside of the house... Or, how about going up in the attic, and checking to see if there is any place where you could see down into the soffit, to see how they are constructed. Seems like the fascia would at least have a 1x6 or 8 under the metal, or maybe even a sub-fascia of a 2x? - or is that all covered up with gutters?
Edited 11/26/2004 7:42 am ET by DIRISHINME
The stud finder was a good idea. I did not get reading all along the studs, but I got enough to verify where they are and match it up with the outside.And probing through the tear in the AL siding and fiber sheathing there is wood behind it. The attic is a NO go. I did "inspect" it once. There is an access door in the gable on the oposite end. They sided it separately, but installed J-channel around the door and the opening so I had to disaseemble the siding to get the door open. Then you have about 18" of height to get into the attic. The only way that I would do that would be get scafolding level with the door so that I could crawl into it.The problem with the rake is that there was a bunch of bends in the al trim. It is not clear if there is trim under all of that are not. All of the trim is gapped enough from underlying wood that it is hard to tell what is solid and what is not.But I did find a place down lower to temp fasten the TV cable. And the phone guy used a longer screw in went back in the area where it had been before.But I got an idea from the exterior light thread for a permanate fix.When the weather is good I am going to take off the top 2 strips of AL siding. The 2nd strip is the one that is riped. Then make a wooden block that I and screw and glue to the framing. Then either put vinyl J-channel or make some wood channels (this is well under the soffit so it is out of the weather. Then cut the 2nd strip in cutting out the riped section and with one part on each side of the block. When I am done with it it should look like it was designed that way and what it is - a kludge to cover up damaged siding that can't be matched.
Pretty common issue this.
A lot of homes have a porcelain eyes with a lag screw in its base as a point of attachment. Mostly these are screwed into siding on a gable or fascia. Assuming above average craftsmanship they may have hit a rafter tail or, even better a stud behind the siding.
The fascia or siding is a pretty weak mount. Even if the lag screws on the eye hold the fascia, being nailed into end grain, usually gives up and siding is only slightly better. The lag screw hitting a rafter tail is little help as the lag threads still go into the end grain. The stud, when such rarities are seen, is pretty good but there is better.
Best IMHO is to use a welded steel galvanized eye. A 5/8" extension bit is drilled through the gable end siding at the angle the drop comes in at so the siding isn't under stress. This angle is continued with all-thread through a set of 2bys nailed into the opposite side of the trusses or rafters. Send the help into the attic to rig the 2by while you hold the angle with the extension bit. He nails it in and you drill the 5/8" hole. Make sure he brings the coupling, nut and 3" square washer with him. The all thread and end of the eye bolt gets stuffed in from outside.
A steel rod formed into a hook and chucked into a drill motor allows the eye to be spun allowing the coupling and/or nut to be drawn up quickly. Make sure the helper carries and uses a pair of channel locks. If the threads bind while the rod is spun hands get torn up. Steel is more forgiving.
Similarly a fascia mount means the fascia gets drilled while the structural strength is blocking supported by trusses or rafters. Of course to do it right dropping a section of soffet is necessary. Usually a six-foot section. A 2by end nailed through the trusses bottom cord and reinforced with two short lengths face nailed into the cords in front of the blocking makes a strong mount.
This is drilled through and all-thread, couplings as needed, a heavy 3" washer and nut draws up the eye firmly into the fascia. In this case the help stays out of the attic unless you just want to be cruel.
Either way a rope of 'duct seal' get applied around the hole behind the eye so moisture and critters stay out. Done well a four man crew can hang from the drop without any damage or issues. Done this way the POCO connections at the pole will give up first. Seeing as that if the drop falls they have to come out anyway they can fix their connections.