Are Soffits in the Kitchen Necessary?

Ducting

• In modern newly built homes, buyers want everything. They are looking for open floor plans, an attractive layout, lots of windows and upscale finishes. Because the cost of building a home continues to rise, builders have elected to cut costs first by building homes on smaller lots. Eventually, even smaller lots become expensive, and the builder then builds up, adding an additional floor. This means more ductwork as the distance between the furnace and the rooms it needs to heat becomes greater. The ducts have to go somewhere, but the builder wants the buyer to see the space, not an extra-thick wall or missing space in a closet. This is where soffits are used.

Designer Features

• Soffits can be disguised in many different ways. If a home has a contemporary and modern feel, then the house is likely to have vaulted ceilings and angles. This assists the architect and builder in creating designer display niches, ledges and apparent built-ins that are actually a means to disguise both horizontal and vertical soffits. If the architect and builder can turn a deficit into a selling feature, then they have truly accomplished their objective. Kitchens with angled ledges or overly large boxed pillars may be hiding mechanical elements necessary for the function of the house.

Lighting Soffits

• In the later half of the last century, soffits in kitchens became fashionable and trendy. The soffit was no longer an outgrowth of function but a design feature on its own. If the soffit overhung the top cabinets, it was common to see recessed lights installed in the soffits. These lights helped to illuminate counter surfaces. This was actually a large improvement from earlier kitchen styles that used only a center ceiling light for lighting. The soffit face was commonly decorated with a wallpaper border.

Soffit Removal

• Many modern homeowners do not like the look of soffits because they feel the soffit makes the kitchen look dated. To determine whether a soffit can be easily removed, each soffit needs to be opened and looked at to determine whether the soffit is being used to disguise the layout of ductwork, pipes or other mechanical house elements. If the soffit only has lights, you can easily remove these soffits. However, be wary of whether the older cabinets are attached to the soffits.