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Fascia, Soffit & Stair Stringer Install Checklist

Complete every step of fascia, soffit, and stair stringer installation the right way the first time.

Based on: Building A Dream Home Episode 55 by Perkins Builder Brothers

Building A Dream Home Episode 55▶ Watch the source video on YouTube

Why You Need This Checklist

Ever stood on a scaffolding board in 90-degree heat, staring at a 16-foot primed fascia board you spent 45 minutes cutting and painting, wondering if your saw cut is going to be right the first time — and knowing that if it isn't, you just torched a significant chunk of money and a half-day of labor? That exact pressure is what separates builders who finish strong from those who end up recutting expensive material over and over again.

The problem with fascia, soffit, and stair stringer work isn't that it's impossibly hard. It's that nobody hands you the sequence. You find out too late that you forgot to leave the caulk gap. You install a board flush before marking your nailer cross pieces, then spend the afternoon guessing where to shoot your nails. You run a stringer and it's an inch too high, so you tweak it — then it's still an eighth off — and now you're on test fit number three in the afternoon sun. Small mistakes compound fast on finished material, and finished material is expensive.

Imagine instead walking onto that job site with a clear, step-by-step plan in your hand. You know to add the 2x strips to the soffits before you ever pick up a fascia board, so the whole assembly looks proportionally correct on a large home. You know to mark your cross-piece locations on the framing before the soffit goes up, because once it's nailed in place you can't see them. You know to leave at least an eighth-inch caulk gap, pre-paint your material gray to make the final coat easier, use galvanized ring-shank coil nails texture-side out, and deal with that air compressor hose leak before it kills your compressor mid-day. And when your stringer is still a sixteenth high on each step, you know exactly how to make those minute adjustments without starting over.

The Perkins Builder Brothers have been through this process on large custom homes — the kind where undersized 2x4 fascia would look completely out of proportion — and they share every hard-won trick in Episode 55 of Building a Dream Home. This checklist turns all of those real jobsite lessons into a clean, actionable sequence you can print and carry with you.

Use this checklist to install fascia and soffit in the right order, nail stair stringers that fit on the first or second try, avoid the most expensive rookie mistakes on finished material, and walk away from the job site knowing every gap, nail pattern, and cut was done right. Get the checklist and get it done.

What's Inside — Preview

Every checklist item comes with actionable notes to guide you — things like "Don't forget to do this before you start," "Avoid this common mistake," or "Set a reminder for 30 days out." Nothing vague, just clear next steps.

BUILD Add 2-inch strips to the bottom of all soffits and a 2x6 to the front of all soffits to increase visual depth
CHECK Gather and check all tools and materials before starting finished fascia and soffit installation
AVOID Inspect the air compressor hose for leaks and repair or replace before starting the day
DO Install fascia before soffit so the fascia provides a hard reference edge for soffit alignment
MEASURE Determine fascia height by placing a speed square on the top of the wall sheathing and reading across the top corner of the fascia position

+ 24 more action items inside...

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