If you have ever done work on the exterior of your home, you may have run across a portion of your home named a “soffit”. In this article, we will take a look at what soffits are and why they are integral to your home.
What are Soffits?
Serving several important functions for your home, soffits are a structural part of your home’s roof that helps not only create an attractive aesthetic value in your home, but also ensures that your utility bills are kept in check.
In essence, soffits comprise the underside of a roof’s structure, where your roof will extend over the walls of your home. Consisting of nearly any finishing material, including fiber cement, vinyl, or wood, soffits are installed to provide coverage to the underside of your roof overhang.This overhang is generally given such names as the eaves or the rafters of your roof, but it is this underside of this overhang which is specifically referred to as the soffit. There are many different soffit and porch soffit designs to choose from, but before you choose your design, let's see why soffits are important.
Reasons Why Soffits are Important
Ventilation
Perhaps the foremost reason to install a soffit on your home is to provide ventilation between the interior and exterior of your home while simultaneously protecting your home from the elements. Because your soffit covers the underside of the roof and therefore affects the attic space, heat tends to build up over time from energy rising throughout your home or the sun constantly beating down on the roof.
Without proper ventilation or the air flow that soffits provide, your roof can become superheated--which eventually leads to the degradation of your roof shingles, the formation of ice dams in the winter, humidity that can breed mold and rot, and higher energy bills overall.
Aesthetics
Soffits provide a finished appearance for your home’s exterior, which covers the rafters of your roof’s overhang. A well-coordinated choice in materials for soffits gives your home a more polished and cohesive look. Considering that soffits come in a wide range of colors, styles, and materials, homeowners can customize their home that can give substantial curb appeal.
Structural
As mentioned previously, soffits help cover up rafters and other elements of your roof. By providing more physical protection against the elements as well as pests, like squirrels and wasps that can chew through wood planks over time, soffits can strengthen your home that would otherwise be deteriorate over time.
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