How to Replace Wooden Soffits With Aluminum

Remove the Wooden Soffit

• 1

  Set up a stepladder at one end of the roofline, ensuring the ground is sturdy and stable. If possible, ask another person to hold the ladder for safety reasons.

• 2

  Look at the front of the roof just below the shingles and identify a thin strip of wooden molding, called shingle molding. Insert a pry bar under the molding and gently pull it free from the roof. Work your way along the roofline until you remove all of the shingle molding.

• 3

  Move back to the starting location and look at the end of the fascia board, which is the flat vertical board that faces out toward you. Identify the seam where it attaches via nails and insert the pry bar into the seam. Pry the fascia board from the roof using the same manner as the shingle molding.

• 4

  Look up under the eaves to identify the wooden soffit. Some soffits run the length of the roof, while others are square and spaced at intervals. Locate the nails along the edges of the wooden soffit and remove them using the pry bar or the pronged side of a hammer. Pull the old wooden soffit down.

Install the Aluminum Soffit

• 5

  Hold one of the replacement aluminum soffits up to the location of the old wooden soffit and determine if you must enlarge the hole. If so, trace around the aluminum soffit with a pencil and set it aside. Don safety glasses and cut along the pencil lines using a jig saw.

• 6

  Measure the length of the soffit opening where it meets the wall of the home and cut a piece of J-channel to the same length using tin snips. Install the J-channel in the opening against the wall by inserting 1 1/2-inch soffit nails every 3 to 4 inches.

• 7

  Insert the aluminum soffit into the groove in the J-channel and the hold the other end up to the front of the rafter. Insert more soffit nails along the front edge to hold it in place.

• 8

  Install additional aluminum soffits in the same manner.

• 9

  Reinstall the fascia board using 1-inch galvanized nails and then reattach the shingle molding using more nails.