Hardie Plank Or Wood For Roof Soffit and Fascia Board

[slow&rusty]

Hey Gang - Re-doing the roof on my detached garage. My soffits and fascia board need to be replaced, what do you recommend wood or Hardie Plank?

I would like to keep the weight down as much as possible. My existing fascia board is wood 2"x10" (not sure why so large and heavy, but that is what it is) and the existing soffit is ply.

Thanks!




Yasin

[gr8fl4porsche]

Most go with aluminum wrap on the fascia and vented aluminum or vinyl on the soffit. Other than an occasional washing - maintenance free.

Hardi will require re-painting eventually. Joints in the soffit and fascia may not be very attractive over time. Caulk will eventually fail due to expansion and contraction. Overall a nice material that has done well in the Midwest.

No-one uses wood anymore.

[Zeke]

Hardie won't hang horizontally. I don't know about the 2 x 10, but it does sound massive. What size are the rafter tails? Usually 2" bigger takes care of the fascia.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by gr8fl4porsche

Most go with aluminum wrap on the fascia and vented aluminum or vinyl on the soffit. Other than an occasional washing - maintenance free.

Hardi will require re-painting eventually. Joints in the soffit and fascia may not be very attractive over time. Caulk will eventually fail due to expansion and contraction.

No-one uses wood anymore.

Aluminum wrap on the fascia but "no one uses wood anymore" ?

That wood under the AL will rot and you'll never know. Cedar or such is a good choice.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Milt,

I've seen Hardi panels (4x8) used for soffits many times - ex) bank drive thru ceilings and standard commercial soffits. Requires lots of screws.

Ugly joints though.

[slow&rusty]

Originally Posted by gr8fl4porsche

Most go with aluminum wrap on the fascia and vented aluminum or vinyl on the soffit. Other than an occasional washing - maintenance free.

Hardi will require re-painting eventually. Joints in the soffit and fascia may not be very attractive over time. Caulk will eventually fail due to expansion and contraction. Overall a nice material that has done well in the Midwest.

No-one uses wood anymore.

Thanks for the feedback, I never thought of aluminum or vinyl..great suggestions!

Originally Posted by milt

Hardie won't hang horizontally. I don't know about the 2 x 10, but it does sound massive. What size are the rafter tails? Usually 2" bigger takes care of the fascia.

Milt - rafters connecting the fascia boards are 2x4 believe or not...not optimal!

[gr8fl4porsche]

I meant wood as a final finish material - too high of maintenance. On houses - wood is very rare around here, all aluminum. Commercially - some chain restaurants use cedar for fascia's due to easy repair when folks with ladder racks crash into the drive thru. Other than that - almost everything exterior is being built using factory finished materials. Even the hardi products are coming out pre-painted. EIFS is still extremely popular.

[Zeke]

EIFS is illegal in most jurisdictions. I don't know if I'd listen to you.

[gr8fl4porsche]

As a commercial painting contractor - we love EIFS. Eventually needs repainting and is easily damaged.

Just got awarded a job this morning patching and repainting the front of a car dealership due to sign removal and poor patching by the sign installer.

[74-911]

Originally Posted by milt

Hardie won't hang horizontally.

The local big box sells Hardi soffit - both solid and with pre-drilled holes for ventilation.
16" x 12' and not as thick as the 4x8' sheets. I think it may also be available in 24" widths but not sure about that.

[dondarnell]

Ceder - i have hardy plank siding - didn like hoe hardy face nailed .

[gduke2010]

Cedar might be the best choice. Never seen aluminun sofit or facia in the south.

[look 171]

what wrong with wood. Cheap, easy installation. Paint once Every 5-8 years to keep it looking nice and clean. You still can get oil based paint out there, right?

[VINMAN]

Azek for the fascia boards, vinyl for the soffits.

[fred cook]

Hardi board weighs 2.3 pounds per square foot. Certainly not light weight! I chose to use Hardi board for the inside walls in my shop because of it's resistance to rot/mildew, etc. After putting up 20 or so 4x8 sheets of the stuff, I decided that the joints were, indeed, not very nice looking and covered the joints with trim strips painted to match the Hardi board primer color. For light weight and easy maintenance, I would go with either the aluminum facing or vinyl. The biggest advantage to the vinyl is that it is easier to pressure wash than the aluminum. Also, you can get it in almost any color, never needs painting, etc.

[Mike Bonkalski]

We used LP Smartsiding and it turned out fantastic - LP Building Products | LP SmartSide Trim & Siding Family

[kach22i]

Looks like you have vinyl siding on both garage and house.

Fascia; you could use vinyl coated aluminum or painted aluminum break metal over 2 x wood.

Soffit; perforated vinyl.

As an alternate fascia material you should price out Azek or other expanded PVC paintable trim. Comes in white, you do not have to paint it, can glue/cement the joints.

Other things to think about, replacing the metal drip edge, replacing ventilated soffit material if damaged.

What made the original fascia/soffit go bad?

I think you may need Ice & Water Shield all along the edges/perimeter. Code here is 24" from the inside of the wall. Most people just use the 36" roll with small overhangs.

Is the garage heated?

Is there a ridge vent now? You may want one, sounds like you have a moisture problem, perhaps eaves freezing.

[rick-l]

HardieSoffit

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by rick-l

HardieSoffit

This is new.

James Hardie Soffit panels are available in a vented and non-vented

Ventilate baby, ventilate the heck out of it.

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by kach22i

This is new.

Framing to hold it up is some labor however.

http://www.jameshardie.com/pdf/install/hardiesoffit-hz5.pdf