The process of creating a roof is not only the manufacture of rafters, the laying of roofing material and the installation of gutters, but also the filing of cornices. In this article we will try to tell in detail how the roof is hemmed, and also consider how to hem the roof of a house and what materials are considered the most popular for these purposes.
With the correctly completed construction of a residential building, the roof from the wall moves away from a half meter to seventy centimeters. This condition is required in order for the facade of your house to be reliably protected from atmospheric precipitation - rainwater. Thus, an overhang is obtained in the roof, which is covered with roofing material from above and hemmed from below. Hemming the roof provides an opportunity not only to protect against moisture - well-equipped, it will provide excellent ventilation of the under-roof space, as well as the area between the insulation and roofing material. The air will continuously circulate, the ingress of moisture will quickly disappear. Accordingly, the roof structure will remain dry, and this will significantly increase its life.
Roofing: materials
There is a fairly wide range of materials that can be used for filed roofing. Sometimes for the implementation of such work, and especially in a wooden house, a wooden lining is used. This material is quite cheap and easy to install, but it has a huge minus - it has low life. Wooden lining will require periodic tinting, over time it will blacken and actively absorb moisture. Another drawback of the lining is that it does not have the level of ventilation that is required for the roof.
A very popular solution in order to perform a roof lining is a PVC lining. This type of material is quite acceptable, both in cost and in operational characteristics. However, for ease of installation and to create an aesthetic “appearance” of the roof, special decorative “corners” should also be used, also made of plastic.
Often, a material such as vinyl siding is also used to file the roof in a private house. Meanwhile, in order to save money, homeowners make a mistake: the fact is that initially siding is the material for the facade decoration of the walls of buildings, and when the roof is hemmed, it does not look so attractive. The appearance of siding is also worsened by ventilation holes, which were not originally provided for in this material.
Among the budget options for the material with which the roof is hemmed, we can also mention galvanized metal siding. It is relatively easy to install, but it does not last long because it is susceptible to corrosion. On metal siding, when used on the roof, rust stains quickly occur. This is especially noticeable if you hem the roof with white or various light shades.
Today, in large construction markets, you can easily find special materials designed for stitching roof eaves - the so-called "spotlights". They can be of two types - aluminum and vinyl (PVC). The size of such binder elements, as a rule, is from 3 to 3.5 meters; such sizes for hemming the roof are optimal. Spotlights are:
- solid (used for roofs of verandas, arbors, porches, etc.);
- perforated (used, as a rule, for roofs that are covered with shingles and other non-profiled materials);
- with perforation in the center (almost universal option that has the most effective function of ventilation of the space under the roof).
Soffit filing: work stages
Preparation of the roof, insulation work At the end of the installation of the rafters, during the installation of the battens for the roofing material, the ends of the rafters are gently sawed along a line that should be strictly parallel to the wall of the house. In order to sheathe eaves overhangs, either metal profiles (such as for installing drywall) or boards are used as a frame. The ends of the rafters, sawn vertically, are sewn up as well as the box.
Important: before you hem the roof overhangs, you need to insulate the walls of your house from the outside. Thus, the binder will fit snugly on the insulation material on the walls, and the heat loss of the building will become much less.
If the angle of inclination of the roof is small, spotlights can be installed parallel to the walls, directly on the rafters. In this case, the angle of the binder will coincide with the angle of the slope. If the lower plane of the rafters of your roof is uneven, it is important to pre-align it so that the hemming operations are performed efficiently. For this purpose, small pieces (trimmings) of boards can be screwed to the side parts of the rafters with screws. The size of such trimmings is at least ten centimeters in length and four centimeters in width. First we fasten the first and last boards, and then, so that the rafters become as even as possible, we pull the thread - and along this line we fix the remaining boards. In the place where the ramps converge, the boards are fixed on both sides of the corner rafters.
Much more often laying spotlights on rafters, another option is practiced. From the wall to the edge of the rafters, a horizontal box is arranged. In this case, the frame for hemming cornices using spotlights will be made also, as in the previous version, from boards. Mounting is performed on one side - to the bottom of the roof rafters,
One edge is fastened to the bottom of the rafters, and the other to an additional board. This board is lowered and fixed in the place where the rafters converge with the wall. In the corners of the board you need to lay flat - there will be a joint on which two sides of the board will be attached. The joint runs from the corner where the ramps converge to the angle of convergence of the walls. This allows you to create a rigid structure that will be independent of the wall of your residential building.
Performing this work, try to make the fasteners as reliable as possible: screws are often used for fixing, but metal plates and corners can also be recommended.
After the frame is ready, soffit filing can be started. Carry out the casing carefully and reliably - so that subsequently no wind gets into the under-roof space, and also that there is no access for precipitation: snow, rain. Special mounting strips are usually supplied with soffits, which make it possible to make roof sewing easier, faster and more convenient. Such strips are quickly installed using conventional wood screws.
Starting work on the sewing of the roof of a residential building, pay attention to the following important point: the edged board that you use to equip the frame, as well as any wooden roof elements, are certainly treated with special modern compounds that provide reliable protection against fungi, mold and other negative factors, which destructively affect the tree. Such simple measures will allow you to significantly extend the life of the entire roof and its individual elements.
This video shows in detail the process of filing soffits:
Choosing modern high-quality materials in order to properly file the roof, you will prevent a number of problems in the future, provide good ventilation, extend the service life and, of course, make your building more attractive and more comfortable for living.