Can a soffit be made bigger

platforminc · 24 Jan 2020

Hi All.

I am just having my house extneded, and my worst nightmare has just happened. I alwys told the builder that my soffit should be abouut 300mm, but it appears that this has been left at around 160mm and by the time they put in the rafters, it will stay that way.

Is there anything that can be done at this stage to extend it outwards by another 200mm other than taking out all the timber etc.

This is what can hppen when the soffit is too short, as the building is timber frame, the wall will come out by about 65mm. so you are left with just 100mm. You can see that when it rains, the water is hitting the render badly and damaging it. This particular house, it took about 2 years for all this to start happening, well after the builder has left.

sircerebus666 · 24 Jan 2020

Have you spoke to your builder about this?

Are you saying you made it clear to the builder what you wanted and he/she ignored you?

What do the plans say about the size of the soffit?

Is the builder following plans that were put through planning and approved?

^woody^ · 25 Jan 2020

It could be extended out no problem, but at the same time the fascia goes lower - and that could be a problem.

platforminc · 25 Jan 2020

Thanks for the response woody.
How will it be extented out? Please explain.
Will all the timber have to come out?
What are the consequences of the fascia going lower ?

I have not spoken to the builder about this. I just happened to notice it yesterday and I'm very well disappointed.

I wanted to have venting by the soffit for the extractor fans, with it so narrow. This will not be possible.

sircerebus666 · 25 Jan 2020

At the risk of repeating myself , is the builder simply following plans which were drawn up and approved by planning?

^woody^ · 25 Jan 2020

platforminc said:
Thanks for the response woody.
How will it be extented out? Please explain.
Will all the timber have to come out?
What are the consequences of the fascia going lower ?

I have not spoken to the builder about this. I just happened to notice it yesterday and I'm very well disappointed.

I wanted to have venting by the soffit for the extractor fans, with it so narrow. This will not be possible.

4x2 or something is just nailed to the side if each rafter/truss.

If the fascia goes lower, then it may end up lower than the tops of the window frames.

Notch7 · 25 Jan 2020

that image youve attched is a verge

from what I can see you are talking about a pitched roof -which will have the soffit and gutter extending the protection outwards.

if you want to extend it, just get the builder to screw some 4 x 2 as Woody says.
but the soffit will be lower -unless a packer is added to the top of the rafters, but thats prob not poss if matching existing ridge height....unless a tapered packer is put in -chippies will love that! -it can be done though

are they extending an existing roof -it looks like it, in which case your overhang may be dictated by that.

platforminc · 25 Jan 2020

sircerebus666 said:
At the risk of repeating myself , is the builder simply following plans which were drawn up and approved by planning?

Plans approved by planning but clearly hasn't been followed, this why this has happened.

platforminc · 25 Jan 2020

This is what i want (picture below). I still dont understand how the 4 by 2 will be nailed to every rafter, and will this result in the picture below ? the nature of the building is timber frame and the wall composition will be about 60mm including render (18mm osb, render carrier board, battens, render) . as it stands, it will end up like building shown earlier. In this picture, the soffit is just under 300, lets say 250 and rainwater gutter another 100mm i think.

sircerebus666 · 25 Jan 2020

platforminc said:
Plans approved by planning but clearly hasn't been followed, this why this has happened.

If the plans give you the soffit depth you want and your builder hasn't been following the plans then you need to have a word and tell him to rectify his mistake at his cost

^woody^ · 25 Jan 2020

The other thing is that if that's a loft, then you are getting reduced headroom and space.

platforminc · 25 Jan 2020

Its a brand new roof. The bit in orange is a new ridge line and the red lines are the rafters as shown in my first picture.

Notch7 said:
that image youve attched is a verge

from what I can see you are talking about a pitched roof -which will have the soffit and gutter extending the protection outwards.

if you want to extend it, just get the builder to screw some 4 x 2 as Woody says.
but the soffit will be lower -unless a packer is added to the top of the rafters, but thats prob not poss if matching existing ridge height....unless a tapered packer is put in -chippies will love that! -it can be done though

are they extending an existing roof -it looks like it, in which case your overhang may be dictated by that.

freddiemercurystwin · 25 Jan 2020

Excuse the American image/terminology but the principal is the same.

platforminc · 26 Jan 2020

Thanks for this. The pictures do help a lot.
What is confusing me is this. I always thought that the ceiling joists and rafters needed to meet and be cut straight and this is what the fascia is screwed to.

Also the way the windows are, looks like it might need to come down by 200mm or so, I feel this is needed to compensate for the fact that the fascia will now be lower. At the moment the top of the window is about 250mm from the base or the soffit.

7 inches high first floor ceiling joist
2 x 5inches by 2 inches timber for window opening . So roughly 250mm.

Please correct me if I am wrong here.

Notch7 · 26 Jan 2020

platforminc said:
I always thought that the ceiling joists and rafters needed to meet and be cut straight and this is what the fascia is screwed to

No, ceiling joists dont form the fixing point on pitched roofs -ceiling joists usually finish at wall plate.

The rafters need to be fixed to the joists -that is structural.

The rafter ends extend beyond the ceiling joists and a plumb cut creates fixing for fascia. Soffit can be fixed to seat cut on underside of rafter, or fixes into groove on fascia and batten on wall for back.

In that first picture youve taken -is that the latest state of the roof?

I ask because the only rafter looks like a temporary one to hold the ridge. It may not be permanent....just a set out

The ceiling joists are irrelevant.

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Can a soffit be made bigger

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