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Wisdom on Soffit and Fascia?

| Posted in General Discussion on February 29, 2000 02:55am

*
Looking for experience with soffit and fascia board. We’re building an ICF home that will be finished with one or two coats of elostomeric stucco (or similar)and would like to use the same for the soffit and fascia. I haven’t decided upon the substrate to use for the soffit and fascia. (we want to avoid lathe & stucco here).
James Hardie makes a “HardiSoffit”, but at 1/4″ thick, it seems suspect. However, nailing 1/2″ thick cement board overhead isn’t very appealing either. Also, I’m not sure the “Hardipanel”, would weather well as a fascia board behind a gutter and not able to be maintained very easily.

The roof is made of trusses 2′ o.c. with a return to the wall and the fascia is a solid 2×6. What would you suggest for the soffit and for the fascia board? (and, for the record, we are installing soffit vents!)Thanks

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  1. Guest_ | Feb 22, 2000 09:05pm | #1

    *
    ......if you are installing fascia mounted gutters, then I would use a factory primed redwood for the fascia... if no gutters, I would use (Georgia Pacific ) GP Prime Trim

    My soffits would be Alcoa Pro bead vented vinyl soffit with Alcoa F-channel returned to a GP prime trim freize board.

    1. Guest_ | Feb 25, 2000 11:43pm | #2

      *Teo,We have been using Hardies products since Adam was a boy here down under. Now keep in mind we don't have the weather extremes that you do, so I can't comment on any associated problems, but we always use Hardies soffitts..( and it is only 4.5mm thick here, thats around 3/16ths ) without problems. We never use Hardies for fascias, though if it is only a lining material it should be OK. ( Would this tend to give rot somewhere to start though). mark

      1. Guest_ | Feb 28, 2000 12:51am | #3

        *consider using synthetic board. remember any primed material once cut needs cut end primed again. With synthetic board this is not necessary.

        1. Guest_ | Feb 29, 2000 02:55am | #4

          *FWIW: the Hardie fascia is 7/16". click Haven't seen it, imagine it's lots of fun to nail. I too would like to use something I could nail and forget, but currently am thinking more about real rot-resistant wood (e.g., redwood) with some sort of routed detail... might as well exploit the fact it IS real by dressing it up, as if anyone ever looks up there.Suggestions? What's the preferred gutter setup so that the fascia lives longer? I'm using 5/4 and 2x treated subfascia (scraps from some deck work), so there's lot of stable wood to mount to. I like those half-round gutters for some eccentric reason, maybe because everyone has K-style.Fascia: planning to use T&G beaded fir, preprimed both sides with oil, painted well and weather-sheltered. No vents.

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