Help! Aluminum Fascia is falling down!

I live in a new community in Virginia. A common problem amongst neighbors is our aluminum fascia siding blowing down whenever there is a big storm. I've been here nearly two years and last night a piece of our siding blew down.

I've taken a couple of pictures and I'm hoping that somebody that knows what they are doing might be able to give me some advice on how to proceed with the developer. Just about every home on my street has had to deal with this... a piece blows down and the developer sends some laborers to nail another piece back up. I don't want a band aid, I'm hoping somebody can tell me what they need to do in order to install all of my aluminum fascia siding correctly!

In the first image I'm attempting to show the piece that blew down. I inspected it and it appears that it was nailed to the fascia board in three places, approximately 30 inches apart (I circled the holes in red). The nail head must have been pretty small. You can tell that there wasn't a lot of measuring going on when this was being nailed up.

Here's the image: http://img391.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sidingtk9.jpg


The second image shows where the piece of siding blew down.
http://img505.imageshack.us/my.php?image=missingsidingur1.jpg

Any advice or suggestion you might offer would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!
Mitch

 

Sometimes fascia is installed with the anticipation of overlaying with gutters, and they skimp on fasteners. The guttering will hold the fascia firmly, but placing the nails 30" apart is a little cheap. I would get with the builder and insist on proper fastening at a good spacing, even if it means seeing the nails afterwards. I could live with the nails' appearance better than I could live with the stuff falling all the time. It only takes a little wind to get under these pieces and rip them from their moorings.

 

Thanks for the input.

After I made this post, it occurred to me that of all the homes where I have seen the aluminum fascia falling down, it's always where there are no gutters installed.

How far apart should the nails be? Are there any guidelines on this? I assume using nails is okay?

I've got a two-story home and with exception of the gables and the piece in the linked image, I have gutters just about everywhere. Visible nail heads seem like a small price to pay compared to having to call somebody to put up another piece of aluminum every time a big storm blows through.

Thanks again!
Mitch

 

Mitch V

If the picture you put on the site is correct of the piece of fascia with the nail holes marked, I will tell you right now that whoever put it up had no idea how to put on fascia. It is or was put on entirely wrong. You do not face nail fascia. You nail fascia from the botton, with fascai nails and they also go right through the metal soffitt into the fascia board. Sometimes you even have to pre-drill the fascia and soffitt and then nail the fascia. Now we install a fascia nail about every 12" nailed up from the bottom.

 

Those nails always have a way of working loose. I suppose it's because if the metal rattles in the wind at all, it will eventually loosen the nail. Some say that normal expansion and contraction (heat and cold) will also cause them to work loose. You'd think someone would invent a trim nail that stays in. I avoid face nailing wherever possible. Nailing up through the bottom leg is a much better practice. Just don't nail too tight or you'll make a nice dimple.

From the picture, it looks to me like the builder skipped the gutter apron and drip edge. Tucking the fascia cover under the flashing helps keep the top of the fascia cover from rattling and eventually blowing off. Not only that, it helps prevent water from leaking behind the fascia cover and rotting your boards! Why are some builders so cheap??? They probably saved $100 by omitting the metal edging on the roof. Hope they didn't spend it all in one place.


Personally, I like to silicone the fascia on if I have any doubts that it will stay on. For instance, I had a dear friend who once had a 3 story home. Her house had very wide custom made fascia cover that was continually blowing off with every thunderstorm. Bending the elaborate trim and setting up a scaffold on those gable ends that high off the ground wasn't one of my favorite repair jobs... in fact, I had a near death experience out there that still gives me the shivers when I think about it. Anyway, I'd silicone the back of the new fascia cover as I replaced pieces that had blown off. Eventually I must have gotten most of the pieces done that were vulnerable to "high winds". None of the pieces I did that to ever came off again, and I didn't have to use a lot of nails. The nails work out again anyway, so what's the point. Silicone it!

I just did a small soffit and fascia job earlier this week (300 lin ft on a big cut up garage) where I siliconed behind the fascia cover on all four gable ends where there were no gutters. I hate call backs! You can silicone a lot of fascia cover for $3.95.