Soffits

The next exterior job for the carpenters in order to close off the inside from the outside is to finish the soffits. This is the underside of the roof overhang and can take on many different looks, depending on the design. You can see bungalow style houses with open rafter tails; you can see existing houses with vented soffits to allow air-flow under the roof deck. The New House Next Door has an "un-vented" roof system, because the building envelope includes the attic spaces, meaning they are also insulated and therefore not vented to the outdoors. The soffits are solid exterior plywood, painted white to match the rest of the trim. Some are angled (at gable roofs, like the main roof and screened porch) and some are flat (at hip roofs, like the front porch and kitchen/eating one story area)

Closed, angled soffits on gable roofs

Closed, flat soffits on hip roofs