North Walsham Roofers handles exterior cladding projects in Sheringham from the first inspection right through to clearing the site, fitting work done properly at every stage.
Exterior cladding work is more involved than it looks from the pavement. A well-executed job has several distinct stages and skipping or rushing any of them is where problems start. Below is a straightforward account of what a proper cladding installation involves, from the moment we arrive to look at the job through to the day we pack up and leave the site clean.
Before any price is discussed, the wall needs to be looked at properly. We want to know what is behind the existing surface, whether that is bare masonry, existing cladding, render or something else. We check for signs of damp in the wall structure, look at the condition of any existing membrane if cladding is already fitted, and assess whether the substrate is sound enough to take fixings reliably.
Fitting cladding over a compromised wall surface without addressing it first is a false economy. If there is preparatory work needed, we will tell you at this stage rather than discovering it once we have stripped the old material off.
We also note the profile of any existing cladding if the homeowner wants to match it, and check what access will be needed - whether ladders, a tower scaffold or a full scaffold lift is required affects both the cost and the programme.
Cladding on a first-floor elevation or higher requires scaffold. We arrange this to be in place before work starts. Ground-level work can often be done from a combination of ladders and a low-level access platform.
Before stripping starts, window sills, door thresholds and any paths or planting directly below the working area are protected. Stripping old cladding produces a significant volume of material and having a skip or a builders bag positioned in the right place before work starts avoids waste being dragged through the property.
Old boards are stripped back carefully. The aim is to remove everything cleanly without damaging the wall behind. This is where the real condition of the substrate becomes clear. Battens that are rotted, fixings that have corroded into the masonry and membranes that have torn or pulled away all show themselves at this point.
A common problem on older cladding jobs is finding that the original battens were fixed with cut nails or short screws that have since lost most of their grip. When this is the case, removing the old boards can be straightforward, but re-using those fixing points is not possible and new holes need to be drilled into sound material.
Any waste from stripping is loaded into the skip as the work progresses rather than left in a pile. This keeps the working area clear and reduces the risk of trip hazards.
Once the wall is bare, any areas of loose render, crumbling pointing or damaged masonry are dealt with. Small areas of repointing or patching are normally within scope on a standard cladding job. If significant masonry repair is needed, we will discuss this separately because it affects both cost and programme.
The wall is checked for level and plumb. Walls on older properties are rarely perfectly flat and the batten system needs to accommodate this so the finished face of the cladding sits true.
A breather membrane is fixed directly to the wall before the battens go on. This is a vapour-permeable sheet that lets moisture vapour pass out through the wall but stops liquid water driving in from outside. It needs to be fixed with enough fixings to hold it flat, lapped correctly at joints and sealed around any penetrations such as soil pipes or electricity tails.
Leaving out the membrane, or fitting it loosely, is one of the most common shortcuts on cladding jobs. A membrane that has lifted or torn in places gives no protection in the areas where it has failed. This is not visible once the boards are on, which is why it matters to have the work done correctly at this stage.
Counter-battens are fixed through the membrane into the wall. These create the ventilated cavity between the membrane and the back of the cladding boards. The cavity allows air to circulate and any moisture that does get past the boards to drain to the bottom of the wall and escape rather than sitting against the membrane.
The main horizontal (or vertical, depending on the board orientation) battens are then fixed to the counter-battens. These are what the cladding boards fix to, so their spacing needs to match the length of the boards and the fixing requirements of the specific product being used. Getting the batten centres right at this stage avoids issues with boards spanning too far and flexing under wind load.
Work starts from the base of the wall with a level starter course. The first board sets the alignment for everything above it, so time spent getting this right is not wasted. Each board is fixed according to the manufacturer's requirements for that product - the number of fixings per batten, the fixing type and the gap allowed for thermal movement all vary between timber, UPVC and composite systems.
At window and door reveals, boards are cut and fitted with sealed edges. Trim pieces and corner sections are fitted as work progresses. A consistent reveal depth around windows makes a significant difference to how the finished job looks.
Soffits, fascias, verge trim and any other abutments are checked and made good where the new cladding meets them. External corner sections and window surrounds are sealed with an appropriate flexible mastic that remains watertight under the movement that comes with seasonal temperature changes.
Sealing is one of those details that homeowners rarely see being done but notice the consequences of when it is done badly. A sealed joint that cracks open within twelve months was almost certainly applied in too thick a bead or over a dirty surface.
Once the boards are on, scaffold ties are made good where they passed through the cladding and any scuff marks or smears on new boards are cleaned off. The scaffold is struck, the skip is collected and the area below the working elevation is swept and checked.
A final walk-round checks that every board is properly fixed, that no gaps have opened at the joints and that the trims and seals are all sitting correctly. Anything that is not right is sorted before we leave.
We carry out full cladding installations and strip-and-replace jobs in Sheringham and the surrounding area, including North Walsham, Cromer, Aylsham and Norwich. If you want to know what a job on your property would involve specifically, call us to arrange an inspection.
No obligation · We usually respond within 2 hours
Storm damage, active leak, damaged ridge - we aim to be on-site within 24 hours.
