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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilation holes


I'm planning to replace both the soffits and fascias on my two-storey
house. It was built in 1906.

It has cast iron ogee gutters that sit in a cutout section at the end
of the joists; the joists sick out about 10 inches from the walls. The
soffits and fascias are attached to the underside and ends of these
joists.

A couple of the gutter sections, no doubt sealed together with putty,
started leaking and dripping onto the soffits. This resulted in a
couple of the soffits rotting. A couple of years ago, I got a local
builder to reseal all the gutter sections. He was worse than useless
as he managed to remove any putty that was still providing a seal. The
result is that ALL gutter sections are now leaking on to their
soffits. This is serious as the joists are getting wet.

As I wont trust anyone to do a good job, I've decided to do reseal the
gutters and replace the soffits/fascias myself.

However, the advice I'm looking for is this: houses of this style were
built 100 years ago; nowhere on the soffits or fascias are any
ventilation holes; apart from the (recent in 100 year timescale)
problem I described above, the loft space is perfectly dry; so, do
houses of this style need ventilation holes? There's no obvious
movement of air in the loft, even on windy days (though I'm not saying
the loft is hermetically sealed).

Basically, if the house lasted for 100 years without ventilation
holes, why bother fitting them now? Are ventilation holes for eaves
only for modern houses, or just a modern fad?

[Background: two storey house, sandstone exterior, exposed west of
Scotland location, fibreglass loft insulation.]

Any help much appreciated.

Ta.

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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilationholes

LJMeek wrote:
I'm planning to replace both the soffits and fascias on my two-storey
house. It was built in 1906.

It has cast iron ogee gutters that sit in a cutout section at the end
of the joists; the joists sick out about 10 inches from the walls. The
soffits and fascias are attached to the underside and ends of these
joists.

A couple of the gutter sections, no doubt sealed together with putty,
started leaking and dripping onto the soffits. This resulted in a
couple of the soffits rotting. A couple of years ago, I got a local
builder to reseal all the gutter sections. He was worse than useless
as he managed to remove any putty that was still providing a seal. The
result is that ALL gutter sections are now leaking on to their
soffits. This is serious as the joists are getting wet.

As I wont trust anyone to do a good job, I've decided to do reseal the
gutters and replace the soffits/fascias myself.

However, the advice I'm looking for is this: houses of this style were
built 100 years ago; nowhere on the soffits or fascias are any
ventilation holes; apart from the (recent in 100 year timescale)
problem I described above, the loft space is perfectly dry; so, do
houses of this style need ventilation holes? There's no obvious
movement of air in the loft, even on windy days (though I'm not saying
the loft is hermetically sealed).

Basically, if the house lasted for 100 years without ventilation
holes, why bother fitting them now? Are ventilation holes for eaves
only for modern houses, or just a modern fad?

[Background: two storey house, sandstone exterior, exposed west of
Scotland location, fibreglass loft insulation.]

Any help much appreciated.

Ta.

Personally I think this fashion for howling draughts in yer loft is so
much bunkum.

It arose I suspect when people started felting..no natural draught
through the tiles or slates. And then adding ceiling loft insulation
made the loft a very cold place indeed..and condensation then rears its
ugly head.

So we were then told to fit vapour barriers between the habitable space
and the loft, but they still kept these massive ventilation requirements.

Frankly I feel that a couple of vents at each end of a gable roof is by
far and away all you need. But the regs say otherwise.



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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilation holes

I suppose you might be right. I'm reasonably sure that the roof
(rafter, sark, slate) doesn't have felt on it.

If that's the case, would I be OK to ignore soffit vents?

I've looked through the (Scottish) Building Regulations and I can't
find where soffit vents are demanded.

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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilationholes

LJMeek wrote:
I suppose you might be right. I'm reasonably sure that the roof
(rafter, sark, slate) doesn't have felt on it.

If that's the case, would I be OK to ignore soffit vents?


Does it feel draughty up in the roof space, especially when windy?

David
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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilation holes

I suppose you might be right. I'm reasonably sure that the roof
(rafter, sark, slate) doesn't have felt on it.

If that's the case, would I be OK to ignore soffit vents?

I've looked through the (Scottish) Building Regulations and I can't
find where soffit vents are demanded.



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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilation holes


"LJMeek" wrote in message
oups.com...

Basically, if the house lasted for 100 years without ventilation
holes, why bother fitting them now? Are ventilation holes for eaves
only for modern houses, or just a modern fad?


Do the gutters seal between the roof and the facia?
I doubt it so there will be plenty of draughts.

IIRC you can get metal gutters made up in one length these days.. probably
better than resealing the cast iron ones but more expensive.


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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilation holes

The gutters don't seal between the roof and the fascia. However, there
is a small vertical board on the attic side of the gutter. It doesn't
seal, as such, but no light comes through from the outside.

The upmost side of the soffits can be seen from the attic, again with
no obvious light coming in. The bottom of the gutters can be felt as
they span between the joists in the attic.

There's no obvious movement of air in the loft, even on windy days
(though I'm not saying the loft is hermetically sealed).

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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilationholes

LJMeek wrote:
I suppose you might be right. I'm reasonably sure that the roof
(rafter, sark, slate) doesn't have felt on it.

If that's the case, would I be OK to ignore soffit vents?

I've looked through the (Scottish) Building Regulations and I can't
find where soffit vents are demanded.

well they usually are, but if you have slates that lets the wind in.
ignore the bloody things and to hell wit the inspectors.

I lived in an attic flat that had no roof insulation and no central
heating and gappy slates once. Christ it was cold..I carwled up into teh
loft to see why..sub zero blizzard in there.
Then I moved.

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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilation holes

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
: LJMeek wrote:

: Personally I think this fashion for howling draughts in yer loft is so
: much bunkum.

: It arose I suspect when people started felting..no natural draught
: through the tiles or slates. And then adding ceiling loft insulation
: made the loft a very cold place indeed..and condensation then rears its
: ugly head.

: So we were then told to fit vapour barriers between the habitable space
: and the loft, but they still kept these massive ventilation requirements.

: Frankly I feel that a couple of vents at each end of a gable roof is by
: far and away all you need. But the regs say otherwise.

I've also heard that when replacing old wooden soffit boards with
modern plastic ones the vents are required because the wood was
'breathable' while the plastic effectively makes a seal. I found that
after the installation of plastic soffit boards with vents on a house
with rooms built into the loft and not much insulation between the
loft-rooms floors and second floor ceilings (the loft extension was
done in the late 60's), a cold wind really chills those rooms.

Tom.

--
Tom Crane, Dept. Physics, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill,
Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, England.
Email: T.Crane at rhul dot ac dot uk
Fax: +44 (0) 1784 472794

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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilation holes

I'll be using wood for the soffits and fascias. I'm planning to give
them primer, undercoat two times and gloss coat three times, all done
at grade before the scaffold arrives. A final touch-up coat will be
done once everything's been nailed on.

With this much paint, I doubt the wood will be in any condition to
breathe.



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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilation holes

On 24 May 2007 03:06:47 -0700, LJMeek wrote:

I'll be using wood for the soffits and fascias. I'm planning to give
them primer, undercoat two times and gloss coat three times, all done
at grade before the scaffold arrives. A final touch-up coat will be
done once everything's been nailed on.

With this much paint, I doubt the wood will be in any condition to
breathe.


you need to put primer on the nails before the final touch up. The
reverse side of the wood can be left bare or with a microporus stain
so that the wood can breath.
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Default Advice on replacing soffits/fascias on old house - ventilation holes

In article .com,
LJMeek writes:
I'll be using wood for the soffits and fascias. I'm planning to give
them primer, undercoat two times and gloss coat three times, all done
at grade before the scaffold arrives. A final touch-up coat will be
done once everything's been nailed on.


This is exactly what I've done in the past. Buy the timber well in
advance so it can dry out to its natural moisture level and you can
discard pieces which warp badly or split (can be as much as 70% of
the timber). I cut and temporarily nailed the pieces in place first
to check the fit. Then I took them down and started preparing them
with a liberal coat of rot proofer.

With this much paint, I doubt the wood will be in any condition to
breathe.


I primed the back, but didn't put topcoat on it.

Some other tips...

In all likelyhood any felt will have rotted off and it won't
reach into the gutter anymore. Fit eaves trays along the tops
of the facias. These go under the roof felt and overhang into
the gutter, and prevent any water running down the facias.

If you aren't using eaves trays, cut the top edge of the facias
at the same angle as the slope on the bottom row of tiles. This
means the tile/felt rests on the surface, rather than just the
front edge, and is less likely to damage the paint. When doing
this, the front edge will need to be the same height as the
original facia board, and the back edge taller.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LJMeek View Post
I'll be using wood for the soffits and fascias. I'm planning to give
them primer, undercoat two times and gloss coat three times, all done
at grade before the scaffold arrives. A final touch-up coat will be
done once everything's been nailed on.

With this much paint, I doubt the wood will be in any condition to
breathe.
Its right thing to do in this situation.
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