My house has a hip roof. We install new shingles last week. I noticed there are no holes in the wood soffits (covered by alum soffits). I plan to install new perorated aluminum (cut a 1" slot in the wood between the rafters. Should I cut the holes on all 4 sides or will the 2 longest sides be OK? Also what is east/fast way to cut the aluminum soffits in 5" pieces?
Answer:
What you have is a common thing but your approach to it is less than that. Most people do not recognize or are not willing to go to the trouble of creating this sort of ventilation. Logic and wisdom dictate that it has to be done the way you describe or to remove the old soffits completely. I cut aluminum either with a plywood blade in the skill saw but the blade is installed backward to prevent burring, or with a good set of tine snips. The more ventilation you can create up there, the better for your new shingles but normally, only the two lowest ones are done.
