Okay, in the process of replacing the roofing, the shed roof over 2 5' wide dormers on our 1.5 story home was rotted, so I tore it off and framed new gable roof over the dormers. I've put shingles on the dormers and the most of main part of the house, but before I take off my brackets to move them to the other side of the roof, I want to finish the fascia and soffits. At this point, I am figuring on putting 1x8 pressure treated boards on the end of the rafters and covering it with vinyl fascia covers and the bottom with vinyl vented soffit. I haven't done the last shingles around where the dormer roof meets up with the main roof. Can someone walk me through what the order is I need to do this.. I am thinking that it goes like: Nail on the 1x8 boards Put flashing on where the 1x8 fascia board meets the main roof Attach J channel to the wall where the soffit will snap in Snap the soffit into the J channel Screw the outside edge of soffit to fascia board Snap the fascia cover into the soffit and under the drip edge Another question is if J channel is the right choice w/ keeping the existing aluminum siding? I'm assuming the gable edge is generally similar, but it can be saved for later.. for the time being, my priority is finishing the closing up of the roof and doing this part now is a matter of avoiding having to set up on the roof again in a spot I'm already set up... The gable end I'll do later when I'm guessing I'll probably have to rent scaffolding. I'm keeping the existing aluminum siding on the walls for now, but plan to go over the walls later (this fall or next spring, depending on the timing of the overall project, weather and money) with 2" foam and new vinyl siding. And the 5-year plan is to pay off the house then tear off the 2nd floor and put on a full second floor, so I'm trying not to spend too much on the project now since it's only likely to be needed 5 years. Editted to add: I think I've been looking at what is available at big box stores and thinking I have to put in the soffite vents the long way, i.e. there are 8' of length on each side of the dormer so I'd take a 12' long piece of vinyl soffit vent and cut off 4'... I built the dormer roof with 1' of overhang, but I'm not actually sure if it's exactly the right width or not to use it that way... Should I be putting it on with the length of the panel going from the dormer wall out, i.e. cutting it to 1' long pieces? And are there any particular tools that will make this easy enough to make them worth buying (I'd rather not rent, since the way this is going to go is that I'll have 4 soffits to do, and there will be days seperating when I do each one, so usually renting tools ends up more expensive than buying) I have tin snips of course which I'm using for cutting shingles and vinyl drip edge.

I am making plans to side my house with Hardieplank. The advice I am seeing on the forums is to buy the Hardieplank primed and then paint it after installation. I want the paint to last as long as possible and, therefore, want to minimize fading. What is your experience with fading based on color or based on paint brand?