I am about to have trusses delivered for an addition on my own home. I have ordered the trusses with no tails and will be sistering on fir 2×6’s for the overhang. This will be an open soffitt. I will be making my own bird blocks from fir 2×6. I really (really) don’t like the standard (for Wash state) bird block with three holes blasted thru and the screen stapled on the back. In the past I have made the vent holes by boring two 1″ holes a few inches in from the end of the block and then doing a sketchy table saw move and sawing out the waste between the holes. I then use a laminate trimmer to ease the edges of the vent hole. I know, it sounds like a lot of work, but like I said, I really don’t like the standard bird blocks that the truss plant sends out.
My question (yes there is a question here) is: has anyone else come up with a better bird block (or vent block)?
Replies
What you did sounds like what Jim Lovatt did for his soffits.
View Image
He built a beautiful house north of Monroe, Wa.
Here is a link to the thread about the house.
Jim Lovat's house
Same situation here, 3 holes look like an afterthought and make aligning insulation chute more dificult. I'll be using this;
http://www.cor-a-vent.com/raft-a-vent-rs-400.cfm
Although I've never seen it installed, my hope it that it will kinda dissappear in the shadows. Even if it doesn't I think it'll be better than the holes...time will tell!
FWIW, rather than sistering tails on, truss builder has agreed to supply tails to me, I cut the end detail, and they'll build into top chord of truss, transitioning from 2x6 to 2x4 six feet or so up. Might save you some time.
PJ
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
How much time and effort are you willing to put into making them?
Pre fab louvered soffit vents. $ not time. Comes in Powder coated, paint ready, primed, plain, galvied, vinyl. Simple and baroque (sp). BT's SeeYou will make 'em outa copper for your $$$.
Your local lumber yard, not BB, should have sveral examples of what's available.
If ya wanna DIY something purely custom:
Cut masonite to fit, stack and scroll saw leeetle hearts, stars, and shamrocks, (whatever,) in them.
Redwood latice cut to fit. Slats in verticle crosses or slanted.
Security mesh, looks like tiny redwood latice made from tempered metal. I like it's looks for things like this. Comes in 4x8 sheets.
Diamond mesh stucco lathe. Smaller version of security mesh. Electro galvanized. Shiney.
Take the redwood latice apart and reassemble the slats in bars, stripes, slants, or chevrons.
Moulding instead of latice slats.
From inside out; copper fly screen, rabbit wire painted to match walls, 2x2/1x2 WWM painted to match trim. Or all in copper.
Getting any ideas of your own yet?
SamT
What I've been trying to figure out is a way to use two blocks, say two 2x4 blocks for a 2x6 rafter tail. One block is flush to the bottom of the rafter, the other flush to the top with a 1" or so gap between them for the vent. Then the screen is the issue. Maybe a strip of cor-a-vent could get sandwiched between them. Or, I'll probably just do the long slot, with screen behind. Thanks for the wealth of great (?) ideas.
Something like this? I figure if the bare Cor-A-Vent is too ugly, it could be blocked out and install a "shade". Might be a bug hotel, though. I guess that's what we pay Spiderman (exterminator) for...
View ImagePJ
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
Yes, that is pretty much what I was imagining, thanks for the visual.
One entirely different solution would be to spray your roof lid with foam insulation and thus eliminate the need to ventilate your attic space.
No more bird block. Period. ;)
We mostly frame closed soffits now, but when we birdblock we use the Cor-A-Vent product Raft-A Vent. I think they look better.
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL293/2163851/4419028/88311201.jpg
We normally buy the black vent, but that box came out white. We order straight from the company, which I just found out we aren't supposed to be able to do :-), but you can order them through your roofing supply company.
One note, don't beat on the top of them. It dents the strips. We cary a small block so that we can beat on that instead.
Now we hang subfascia 1/2" lower than the tails, then nail a 2x to the wall and our closed soffits are framed. We just tried that 16' LP product with the venting cut into it and it looks fine. I can get a couple of shots of that today if you want. In my opinion, closed soffits are about the same $ because we dont' have to use a nice ply for the open soffits on the roof, and not time building installing birdblocks that look nice (we just nail blocking between the rafters that sits vertically). The added expsense is the subfascia and basically doubling the time to install.
But it looks a lot better.
The Cor-A-Vent strip vent, is practically invisible, and might suit your needs.
Tim Uhler shows a pic in an earlier post here, so you've seen how the strip pieces nail to the top of the block.
In our experience of doing exposed tails, we position the block outboard enough so that a trim member can run continuously below, with the trim member having a rebate to house the top edge of whatever siding treatment is used.
Having done this only in dark colored schemes for trim, black has been our color for the Cor-A-Vent S400 product.
I have used the cor-a-vent strip vent product that others are refering to. Although I don't have any detailed pictures, I have attached my drawing detail.
I used the white colored strips attached to white painted blocking. It pretty much disappears. If you would like a picture, I can take one.
Craig