How to Install Maintenance-Free Aluminum Soffits

Learn how to install prefinished aluminum trim, plus buying advice and tips on cutting, nailing and scaffolding.

By Travis Larson

From The Family Handyman Originally in How to Install Maintenance-Free Aluminum Soffits

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About this Project

Wrap the soffits and fascias on your home with prefinished aluminum trim and you’ll never twist your neck to scrape, prime or paint those sky-high roof edges again.

New aluminum soffits (the surface on the underside of eaves) and fascias (the vertical trim under the shingle edge) won’t peel or rot, so they’ll last for decades with no maintenance. True, they lack the natural character of painted wood. But 20 years from now (when you’re 20 years older!), the wood will need big-time TLC, while the aluminum trim will still look good.

Aluminum is a good solution for wood soffits and fascias in awful shape. It’ll take less time to bury them behind aluminum trim than to repair, scrape and repaint the old wood.

This article will tell you everything you need to know to do it yourself, including how to make a $20 soffit-cutting table that works every bit as well as the $600 units the pros use.