Advise a noob about Soffit(s) for a garage

Temujin · 6 Feb 2021 at 11:20

Aloha,
So my garage for some reason has no soffits, despite having a pitched roof, fascia and guttering. I was wondering why it was so breezy and had leaves in but I guess that solves that.

I'd like to install soffit DIY but am unsure about whether it's as simple as measuring the gap to be filled and the length required and then mounting it.

Is there any prep I would benefit from doing, what's the best way to affix the soffits, and is this something I should be tackling?

ANDARIAL · 6 Feb 2021 at 11:56

Pics of the `gap` would be helpful

Temujin · 6 Feb 2021 at 13:12

ANDARIAL said:
Pics of the `gap` would be helpful

That would probably be helpful, images viewable here though it was raining so terrible quality!

ANDARIAL · 7 Feb 2021 at 08:42

Yup that look simple
UPVC soffit board,maybe with vents,but not really needed in a garage.Use `solid` type imho
Is a bit awkward to nail with polytop nails at an angle but if you drill a pilot it is easier.or maybe use some stainless screws?
Just fix to existing rafters for an easier job or level the rafters to get a horizontal soffit (more work)

Temujin · 7 Feb 2021 at 09:49

ANDARIAL said:
Yup that look simple
UPVC soffit board,maybe with vents,but not really needed in a garage.Use `solid` type imho
Is a bit awkward to nail with polytop nails at an angle but if you drill a pilot it is easier.or maybe use some stainless screws?
Just fix to existing rafters for an easier job or level the rafters to get a horizontal soffit (more work)

Awesome, thanks for the advice.
Should I measure the gap to be filled and then look for a soffit that is best fit?
And i guess it's always preferable to have the soffit horizontal rather than mounted diagonally to the rafters?

ANDARIAL · 7 Feb 2021 at 11:10

Horizontal would `look`better but you need to fix some grounds to nail the soffit to,some thing like pieces of 5x1 or 6x1 maybe

azazl187 · 7 Feb 2021 at 11:13

I would find out the pitch of the roof and cut a load of triangles to fix to the bottom of the exposed rafters and then fix the PVC soffit to that

Temujin · 7 Feb 2021 at 13:31

ANDARIAL said:
Horizontal would `look`better but you need to fix some grounds to nail the soffit to,some thing like pieces of 5x1 or 6x1 maybe

azazl187 said:
I would find out the pitch of the roof and cut a load of triangles to fix to the bottom of the exposed rafters and then fix the PVC soffit to that

Ta both, i'll obtain some materials ready to sort this out once the weather clears up a little!

pp111 · 7 Feb 2021 at 18:53

I don't think you have enough room there mess about so cut some little triangles to bring everything horizontal, from some treated wood about two inches thick, nail or screw them to the existing wood up there. Make sure you pilot hole first or they might split. Once you have all the triangles in place use some upvc board with upvc headed stainless nails. You could run around it with some sealant to make it look tidy if you feel confident with a sealant gun.