Removing a Painted Roof Soffit

Place a ladder under the edge of the roof where the painted soffit is located. Put on heavy work gloves and climb up onto the ladder, carrying a pry bar.

Lift up the bottom of the shingles that overhang the roof to locate the thin wooden strip that runs directly under it. This is called the shingle mold and requires removal to detach the soffit. Slide the flat end of the pry bar under this strip and pull it away from the house to detach the nails. Slide the bar down and repeat the process until the molding detaches.

Look at the end of the eaves to locate the free edge of the fascia, which is the flat vertical board to which the soffit attaches. Insert a pry bar between the roof boards and the fascia's edge and pry it gently off of the roof. Once you have the edge free, move back to the front edge of the fascia to pry the edge from the roof line until it detaches.

Extend the blade from a utility knife and run the knife around the entire edge of the soffit to break through the layers of paint. Trace the soffit down until you see where a second soffit begins and cut through the joint there, as well. If you don’t cut through the paint, removing the soffit will be difficult and may damage the roof boards.

Look for the nails that hold the soffit to the roof boards and use the pry bar or back of a hammer to detach the nails gently from the roof. Work your way down the soffit until you detach all of the nails and the entire section comes free.