Soffit Questions

[Megan]

Ok... we are getting ready to set the trusses and finish the roof on our new garage. I have question, we were looking at using wood soffit and staining/ watersealing it. It has been difficult for me to find any pictures of anything online. The reason that We want to go with the wood soffit is we are putting wavy cut wood siding on the top on the trusses along with a wooden gabe vent. I know it will be more maintenance but I think it will look better. The rest of the garage is done with split face block. We are probably going to go with gray garage doors.

The reason I am leaning toward wood is the look of it, I am not a big fan of vinyl and the wood look will match the rest of the house and I think any type of vinyl will look weird with the rest of it wood.

One of the questions that I have is, when do you use vented and when would you use un vented soffits. Would it be possible to just use tounge and groove boards or is it necessary to have the vented, and if so where can I find vented wood soffit.

We are going to be putting the gabe vents on each side along with a ridge vent. Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

[kbs2244]

Vented or un-vented sofit depends on if you are going to put in a ceiling and insulate or not.
An lower room with a ceiling and insulation with an un-heated attic above will need the attic to be vented. That means sofit vents to let the air in as well as roof vents to let the air out.
This is true in winter as well as summer.

 

[PAToyota]

First, rather than wood I'd take a look at using cement fiber and painting it rather than going the wood/stain route. It is going to look like wood for all practical purposes with much lower maintenance.

As for vented vs. unvented: If you are insulating, you should have the soffits vented and a path for the air to flow up to the ridge vents.

 

[Palmetto]

Since you have ridge vents, I would put soffit vents to let the air circulate when it is all closed up.

 

[Palmetto]

To find pictues, go to google.com, and at the top pic "images". this will prompt google to search for images only. Then type in what you are looking for. For instance here, I typed in "vented soffit", and this is what came up.

 

[JB740i]

To find pictues, go to google.com, and at the top pic "images". this will prompt google to search for images only. Then type in what you are looking for. For instance here, I typed in "vented soffit", and this is what came up.

Hmm, I like those. I know someone on here had put recessed cans in the soffit above their garage doors and it looked great.

 

[stricht8]

You can always build your soffits out of whatever wood you want and then retrofit soffit vents. 3 or 4" holes can be drilled and louvered soffit vents can be installed. You could also build the soffits with a gap between two boards and then insert a vent between the two.

 

[PurdueSD]

Probably not me but I did. They dont have the bulbs or trim rings yet but they look great. I'll try to snap a close up.

Another thing to consider is aluminum. Its getting a little more scarce these days, but it puts the look of vinly to shame. Its what i put on my garage.

 

[boiler7904]

Use vented along the eave (where you have gutter) and unvented on the rake (gable end).

Not a fan of vinyl soffit and fascia.

What size soffit are you planning? Aluminum and fiber cement are going to be available in 12" or 24" stock sizes. Wood can be whatever size you want to cut out of a sheet of plywood - 12", 16" or 24" would be most efficient.

From a long term maintenance standpoint, I'd go with a fiber cement product like James Hardie It's somewhat hard to work with and the dust goes everywhere unless you use a shop vac while you cut it with a saw. The upside is that it won't rot and holds a finish a lot better. Birds and insects won't eat it either.

Adding recessed can lights in the soffit gives a nice look at night assuming that you can get them the right distance off of the wall. Adding the cans like this would drive me nuts everytime I saw it during daylight.

 

[sonett43]

We did a wood beadboard soffit on our garage and house, but had the builder vent where the top course of clapboard met the soffit. He filled the area with the same black mesh that is used at the roof ridge.

Lewis

 

[Sundowner]

you gotta have a vent system built into the soffit or the roofing at the bottom.
A company called Cor-a-vent has a lot of products and suggested building details for different venting options.

I personally agree with you. I like wood soffit. I hate the prefab soffit. I think it looks cheap, and it detracts from the exterior of a house. Further, the excuse of low maintenance irritates me. It's as if people use laziness as an excuse to live in a crappy looking house. Vinyl siding is low maintenance, which is great, but then you live in a Tupperware house.
yay.
sign me up.

The soffits in my garage are 4" grooved T-111 and will be stained/poly'd right after my wife finally picks colors to paint the rest of the garage. Knowing my wife, we'll have colors picked right after the last US Marine packs his duffel and ships out of Iraq. (but I digress) As long as you detail your overhangs correctly, the soffit will get practically no exposure to rain or sun and should last a very long time.

 

[Megan]

We did a wood beadboard soffit on our garage and house, but had the builder vent where the top course of clapboard met the soffit. He filled the area with the same black mesh that is used at the roof ridge.

Lewis

Thank's for all your responses, I think we are going to go with beadboard/tounge and groove and screen every few feet of so.

 

[twostory]

This is what I did. I used 3/8 plywood and framed a 2x4 rafter every 2 ft. The continous strip soffit give you more square feet of ventilation than the rectangular vents every 6 ft.

 

[rburke65]

Hey Purdue SD, What color is the steel siding on you garage? Is that something you painted or a factory color and if factory, who makes it. Thanks

 

[PurdueSD]

It is called terratone. Made by McElroy Metal... http://www.mcelroymetal.com/elements/files/MM210-1-08.pdf

Its a really neat color. It looks green/ brown/ bronze/ grey depending on the light and what is reflecting off it.

 

[rburke65]

That's why I was asking. I thought it was a very.......comforting earthy color. Looked real nice in the pictures with the pine boughs and trees against the siding. Like they say, "One Picture is worth..........." Thanks. RB