Pole Barn-Soffit or No Soffit

[karoc]

Guys my plan is to build a Pole barn with metal siding.The siding will be 12' tall but the bottom 3' will be different color which if ever the need to replace the bottom pieces due to rust or what ever reason is that be little easier. Say due to water splashing up from raining over the yrs. Now to help keep from having to replace those bottom pieces I do want to install gutters but I don't know if have soffit will help get the rain water away from the siding. I see some pole barns with soffit and I see some with out. So is it worth having soffit or not?

 

[sz0k30]

A soffit is ABSOLUTELY worth having on any building.

 

[fourbyford]

^^agree^^

Not only will extending the roof (by using soffits) help keep water away... IMO, the roof overhangs on the eaves and gable ends greatly enhance the appearance of the building.

My current garage/shop was built without any overhangs... when it rains, dirt/debris inevitably gets splashed up on the walls and garage doors. As snow slides off the roof, it is deposited neatly, directly in front of the O/H doors making it difficult to remove with my tractor/blade. Lots of shoveling of wet and heavy snow. And, all this with gutters installed.

I plan to embiggen my garage in the near future and part of that build will include re-working the roof... to include overhangs all around.

...D

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

Ive always been of the " guess " that the buildings you see that dont have soffits, where deleted due to cost.

Soffits go along way to keep doors and windows healthy. It also gives you sufficient " area " for soffit vents to feed youre ridge vent, making the roof and whole structure last longer, not to mention keep temps and humidity down ( depending on whether you have a ceiling or not ).

Building also looks allot better, in my opinion,,.

 

[MrSurly]

I chose to build with an eave/soffit.
I went back and forth on this decision because it was simply money versus appearance in my case.
Where as an eave and soffit normally has a real function as a vent for an attic space, my build would be all foamed, no venting function at all so it was just appearance. I chose to spend the extra money in order to make the shop more closely match the house's appearance. I am VERY VERY glad I did. I would be regretful every single day, looking out my window at the shop, if I had taken that shortcut. The typical barn build with no eave is cheaper, looks like hell (my opinion) and suffers wind-driven leaks, especially if the roof overhang is minimal as I've seen done a lot. If you build without an eave/ soffit, make sure to let the roof metal overhang a good bit.
A friend of mine had a building put up a year before I started mine. His is the same size but on a tighter budget and he opted for essentially NO options, just a most basic build. Bubble wrap, one door, no electric. His ONLY regret, expressed multiple times, not doing an eave/soffit.
This link is a very helpful resource (I also ordered my metal package from these folks) in that it shows detail drawings for pole barn buildings

 

[karoc]

Thanks guys for responding,like most I am use to seeing fascia and soffit with at least 12" overhang. I was also asking cause a contractor has given me a price of 2100 extra to do the overhang so it is also a budget thing. But if I keeping building up the nerve and do this build myself I will include the overhang for the reason that all is giving. Mr Surly the link is fantastic, I don't have a clue what all the trim pieces and I guess all the components are called for metal bldg. Printing this up,thank you

 

[colorado jeeper]

What size is your building? I added an overhang mostly for aesthetic reasons. The extra protection and venting were a bonus. The $2,100 seems reasonable if not a tad high depending on the building size. The material shouldn't be much but the labor is a bit more than you might think. I built a 36'x36'x14' pole barn last year, I have 18" overhangs. While not difficult, building out the overhang and cutting the vented soffit was tedious. I think it took my dad and I three or four days to build them out and put in the soffit. My soffit is vented since I have fiberglass insulation, my only regret on the build is not going with foam insulation.

 

[MrSurly]

Keep in mind that the eave/soffit is a function of the truss assembly, you'll need to order the trusses "with a tail" accordingly. the good news is that the price difference on the trusses will be minimal. You will also be adding a fascia board to your list.

If I might add, if you call Michiana, talk to Richard.

 

[86turbodsl]

IMO, soffits/eaves only benefit on the sides, not on the gable ends. I went without on my gable ends and with soffits on the sides, so i could add venting. Doesn't add any value at all on gable ends.