DIYbanter - View Single Post - Exterior "soffit" wood nailed to old "soffit" wood than painted, will it cause problems?

Norminn

wrote:

On Sep 8, 1:54 pm, "David Martel" wrote:

For the effort, if I were you, I'd rip out the old part and install
aluminumsoffitpanels. It provides venting, last LONG without painting.

That is a great idea, but do I have to do anything to my roof/attic
(crawl space), like add more insulation? There isn't much up there and
I would think it might make things colder in the winter.

If there isn't much insulation up there then adding more may be a good
idea and it will help with noise. But first, go up into the attic and figure
out how it is now vented. If the venting is adequate and working there may
be no reason to use vented soffits. I like the aluminum or vinylsoffitidea
with removal of the oldsoffitmaterial.

Dave M.

In general does having vented soffits make ones house colder in
winter? Maybe during the day?

I may cut a few holes in the plywood to increase the ventilation a
little, I just don't want to do anything that will cause damage long
term. I'm looking for roof design/upgrade information right now so I
can figure out what is best for my house.

Thank you.

If you want to get into more work now, as opposed to some later time, it
is probably a good idea to get rid of the rotted soffits and add
insulation. Might also explore ridge vents to the attic. The logic is:
ridge and soffit vents allow movement of hot air in summer to help
keep house cooler, and movement of cold air in winter to keep ice from
thawing and freezing again (can disrupt shingles and cause leaks).
Continuous ridge vents keep the temp more uniform, as air is not then
trapped by some of the rafters. There is a formula for minimum roof
ventilation .... 1:300, I think. One sq. ft. of roof vent for each 300
sq. ft. of attic FLOOR area. So, now that you have ripped out the
rotted soffits, you will be able to insulate without covering up the new
soffits and also be able to tell that you are fastening the new soffits
to sound wood.