[SStroope]

My home is in desperate need of soffit and fascia replacement/repair. I can do all of that without any worries however I have been wondering if I could go a step further and while in the process trim back my eaves. Currently I have 3' soffits and on some corners they sag. I would love to trim the eaves back to allow for a more standard 18' or 24' soffit. I imagine this would involve peeling back shingles, cutting plywood at the right angle with a chalk line and cutting unsocial rafters before I could begin reinstalling everything. I just want to get some more opinions. FYI I do renovations for a living and have done soffit and fascia work but never tackled something like this.

 

[Mingledtrash]

If i was doing this this is how i dooooo...

snap line on shingles where the finish fascia will be. make your finish fascia coincide with one of the rows of shingles. use crappy/cheap blades with skillsaw to cut through the shingles and sheathing.

then start cutting from the bottom 1 1/2" farther back(or thickness of your new fascia) than the top cut. once you cut through your rafters and everything has fallen off you will be left with your sheathing and shingles hanging over the rafters by 1 1/2". Once you install your new fascia board your sheathing and shingles will be the right length. just slide new drip edge and starter row under the last row of shingles.

The way i am thinking of would take a lot more care and time cutting just right, but would save you the hassle of pulling off shingles.

I think some support brackets would be easier and save you time and money no trimming no cutting the roof back hassle.

I think you will miss your 3' over hang when its gone.


the thing this guys hand is on?

maybe something similar to this?

 

[joecaption]

No one here can see how your roof was built without some more info and some pictures.
Live in the hot south?

 

[Yodaman]

going to need scaffolding, too much back and forth work to be messing with ladders

 

[SPS-1]

Keep in mind also that the 3' overhang does a good job at helping to keep water away from windows/doors and foundation. (also shades windows from summer sun)

Maybe just find and fix the reason for the sag.

 

[oh'mike]

You need to let us know if this is conventional framing or trusses.

 

[roobinsteen]

Not to inject my own preferences, but I love big wide eaves. Is your house a craftsman style? Perhaps you could remedy the sag by adding the triangular braces that Mingledtrash mentioned. Those are usually called "knee braces", or "eave brackets" I believe. You can buy them already made, or make them yourself. Plus, they look cool, and you won't have to cut back your roof.

 

[SStroope]

Sorry for the lack of information. Having read so many forums before I should have known better but I am new to actually posting. I live in West Texas and I have a 1954 ranch style one story home in a really dry climate. I believe the roofing is conventional framing and not trusses. There is some sagging at the corners but the main reason for trimming back would be the that the large eaves on a one story (not beautiful or historic looking home) are odd looking. I figured since I needed to replace much of the soffit and fascia material anyway due to some rot and age that I would go ahead and trim back for a more modern look. Not to mention if I trimmed back to at least 24" I would save a grip on my replacement materials (using standard 4x8 LP SmartSide.)
Also thanks for the suggestion of the exterior corbel looking bracket supports but they would awful imho on a house where I can stand outside and touch my one story low soffits.

 

[ront02769]

If you do go ahead...and need scaffolding.....look on Craig's list. My son grabbed some commercial duty 6' 4" bye 5' walk through pipe staging for $75 a section a couple of years back.....and recently sold off a couple of unneeded sections for $80 each!

 

[ChuckF.]

Deep eaves also help save energy, because when properly designed they block the high Summer sun while letting in the low Winter sun.