What Is Soffit?

Posted on Thursday, April 14th, 2011

Some people have the wrong idea about soffit. It sounds like something that might be soft and fits onto someplace on the exterior of your house. Part of that is right; it is normally on the exterior of the house. Soffit can refer to the underside of any element of a building, but when most people use the term, they are referring to the underside of an eave on the exterior of a house. An eave is any part of a of a roof that overhangs the exterior wall.

Why Soffit Is Important

Because heat rises, the hottest air in a house escapes through the ridge vents located at the peaks of the roof. Cool air is supposed to be pulled in through the soffit vents. If the soffit is damaged, old, or rotted it will prevent circulation. This can lead to some pretty disastrous consequences. Not only will your house retain heat, it will also retain moisture. Condensation in your roof can cause damage to the rafters and the roof. Both are far more expensive to replace, not to mention all of the extra money spent on energy bill because of an overburdened air conditioner.

Soffit Is Easily Damaged

Soffit is more vulnerable to weather damage than any other part of the exterior of a house. Through torn shingles, damaged flashing (the metal between chimneys and the roof), ice dams, or clogged gutters, soffit can be repeatedly exposed to water. Unless you have relatively new vinyl soffit, it will rot.

If it doesn’t rot because of water, there are other problems to look out for. Birds, bugs, and squirrels can eat away and burrow in your soffit. Once damaged, the spaces between and behind soffits can become a home to bees, hornets, and wasps which will pose a safety problem to the homeowner.

The Solution Is Vinyl Soffits

While we’ve covered the advantages of vinyls siding, the same rules apply to vinyl soffit. Through replacing your old soffit with vinyl, you eliminate all of the problems of burrowing animals. Vinyl can be wet and you never have to worry about rotting and degradation. It’s design will blend right in and the ventilation will help to keep your roof cool and dry. Even if you forget what soffit is after reading this, there is one thing you need to remember: if you have vinyl soffit, you don’t need to worry about it.

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