I need to replace the facia all around the house. It is presently a pressed
"paper" product that is falling apart.

My first thought was wood, but would a cememt board product such as Hardie
(SP), or a plastic type product be better? How about hanging gutters on a
cement or plastic product? Any problems there?

Thanks.

Dave

I need to replace the facia all around the house. It is presently a
pressed
"paper" product that is falling apart.


My first thought was wood, but would a cememt board product such as
Hardie
(SP), or a plastic type product be better? How about hanging gutters on
a
cement or plastic product? Any problems there?

Thanks.

Dave "


Facia boards tend to be prone to rot. Given the labor involved, I
would not replace it with wood. I'd go with either a vinyl product or
the cement based product. They also have the advantage of not having
any possibility of warping.

On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 16:22:02 GMT, Dave Solly
scribbled this interesting note:

I need to replace the facia all around the house. It is presently a pressed
"paper" product that is falling apart.

My first thought was wood, but would a cememt board product such as Hardie
(SP), or a plastic type product be better? How about hanging gutters on a
cement or plastic product? Any problems there?

What you have is MDF facia. I call it cardboard.

You have several options ranging from pine to composite. Redwood is
always a good option but it splits easily when installing and is
expensive. Personally, if I were doing this job on my house I'd use
one of the composite materials such as Hardie.

As for gutters, the weight of the gutter should never simply be
attached to the facia, rather it sould be attached to what is behind
the facia. If your house has a 2X4 band across the rafter tails then
installing gutters is simple since no matter where you fasten you have
a solid substrait. If not, then gutter fasteners should be installed
directly into the rafter tails.

One of the things we do when doing a complete tear off and deck job is
make certain gutter fasteners are installed into the rafter tails.
This is one of the minor items that most clients have no idea we do.
Just something that ought to be taken care of and is easy to do while
we are there. Having the roof entirely off makes it easy to locate the
rafter tails and get the gutter fasteners perfectly installed.
Similarly in your project, while you have the facia off, take note of
the location of all rafter tails (mark the new facia somehow) so you
will know where they are.

Good luck.


--
John Willis
(Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

Dave Solly wrote:
I need to replace the facia all around the house. It is presently a
pressed
"paper" product that is falling apart.

My first thought was wood, but would a cememt board product such as
Hardie
(SP), or a plastic type product be better? How about hanging gutters
on a
cement or plastic product? Any problems there?

Both the fiber-cement and pvc (such as Azek) work well. The plastic
products shouldn't be painted dark colors as they will warp in the sun.
You can use gutters with either product, but you should hang the
gutters from the rafter tails and not rely on the strength of the
fascia board itself.

R

"RicodJour" wrote in
oups.com:

Dave Solly wrote:
I need to replace the facia all around the house. It is presently a
pressed
"paper" product that is falling apart.

My first thought was wood, but would a cememt board product such as
Hardie
(SP), or a plastic type product be better? How about hanging gutters
on a
cement or plastic product? Any problems there?

Both the fiber-cement and pvc (such as Azek) work well. The plastic
products shouldn't be painted dark colors as they will warp in the sun.
You can use gutters with either product, but you should hang the
gutters from the rafter tails and not rely on the strength of the
fascia board itself.

R



Thanks for all your input. I question about the hanging of gutters was
more in line with the huge spikes they use, and is there a problem with
pounding those through a non-wood product.

Dave

Dave Solly wrote:
I need to replace the facia all around the house. It is presently a pressed
"paper" product that is falling apart.

My first thought was wood, but would a cememt board product such as Hardie
(SP), or a plastic type product be better? How about hanging gutters on a
cement or plastic product? Any problems there?

Thanks.

Dave

There's also anodized aluminum that can be installed (large choice of
colors). Never needs painting (a plus in my book).

--
Grandpa Koca - SAHD for 6 - Keeper of the Perpetual Kindergarten
My opinion is neither copyrighted nor trademarked. It is price
competitive. If you like, I'll trade for one of yours.

"Dave Solly" wrote in message
...
"RicodJour" wrote in
oups.com:
Thanks for all your input. I question about the hanging of gutters was
more in line with the huge spikes they use, and is there a problem with
pounding those through a non-wood product.


The concealed gutter hanging bracket which is installed with screws instead
of those "big spikes" seems to work and hold a lot better IMO.


Colbyt

On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 16:42:29 -0500, "Colbyt"
scribbled this interesting note:


"Dave Solly" wrote in message
...
"RicodJour" wrote in
oups.com:
Thanks for all your input. I question about the hanging of gutters was
more in line with the huge spikes they use, and is there a problem with
pounding those through a non-wood product.


The concealed gutter hanging bracket which is installed with screws instead
of those "big spikes" seems to work and hold a lot better IMO.

But they still need to use a long enough screw to grab the rafter
tails behind the fascia.


--
John Willis
(Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

One thing about the hardi product is that they can't be edge nailed, you
need a subfascia, and you also need to keep all uncoated aluminum away
from the hardiplank.

The hardiplank fascia trim boards looked at first like an idea product,
but I have been taking to several contractors and they have had problems
with using them as fascia boards even with subfascia. I was thinking of
Azek or Royal Moldings, but my house is a medium gray color and I don't
want to leave the fascia white - I would want to paint it. I am going
to use the Hardisofit product, and I will have to install a full
subfascia against either along the rafter tails (but this would add to
the width of the soffit), or block them up between the rafter tails
(would keep the original soffit width, but not sure about the strength),
or cut the rafter tails and add the subfascia.

Now the next question is - what do I used for subfascia - they
recommened 2x lumber, but do I use regular wood, pressure-treated, or
that synthetic wood like they use for decks (Miratek)?



Grandpa Koca wrote:
Dave Solly wrote:

I need to replace the facia all around the house. It is presently a
pressed "paper" product that is falling apart.

My first thought was wood, but would a cememt board product such as
Hardie (SP), or a plastic type product be better? How about hanging
gutters on a cement or plastic product? Any problems there?

Thanks.

Dave

There's also anodized aluminum that can be installed (large choice of
colors). Never needs painting (a plus in my book).

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 05:35:01 GMT, USENET READER
scribbled this interesting note:

Now the next question is - what do I used for subfascia - they
recommened 2x lumber, but do I use regular wood, pressure-treated, or
that synthetic wood like they use for decks (Miratek)?

Use what makes you feel best about the finished work. Water shouldn't
be getting behind the fascia so I don't see that treated or synthetic
stock would gain you all that much of an advantage. If water does
penetrate, then you have a whole host of other problems you need to
deal with.

2X4 stock is typically used as a band across the rafter tails. If you
don't want to make the soffit wider then take the time to put this
between the rafter tails as you describe.

Remember, when installing fascia, put a straight edge on top of the
rafter. Push the fascia board up until the outside corner just touches
the bottom of the straight edge and no higher. Decking can then be
installed down to the edge of the fascia and the metal drip edge will
fit nicely over all. If you install the fascia all the way up until
the back side of the fascia board is flush with the top of the rafter
tail you will create leaks through the bottom course of shingles.

Little details make a large difference. I can't tell you how many
times we've had to contend with this particular problem when roofing
houses.


--
John Willis
(Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

USENET READER wrote in news:9_L2e.9310
:

One thing about the hardi product is that they can't be edge nailed, you
need a subfascia, and you also need to keep all uncoated aluminum away
from the hardiplank.


Interesting about the uncoated aluminum. Isn't that what the drip edegs are
made of??

Dave

Some are, and some are not - but James Hardy doesn't want you to use
uncoated aluminum that contacts any of their products. You could prime
and paint the aluminum or use something that wouldn't have a galvanic
reaction with the concrete in the hardiproduct


Dave Solly wrote:

USENET READER wrote in news:9_L2e.9310
:


One thing about the hardi product is that they can't be edge nailed, you
need a subfascia, and you also need to keep all uncoated aluminum away
from the hardiplank.



Interesting about the uncoated aluminum. Isn't that what the drip edegs are
made of??

Dave

...... and I will have to install a full
subfascia against either along the rafter tails (but this would add to
the width of the soffit), or block them up between the rafter tails
(would keep the original soffit width, but not sure about the strength),
or cut the rafter tails and add the subfascia.

Now the next question is - what do I used for subfascia - they
recommened 2x lumber, but do I use regular wood, pressure-treated, or
that synthetic wood like they use for decks (Miratek)?

We use regular pine 2x along the tails and usually cap it with cedar facia.