When cladding on a Brandon home starts showing its age, the most important decision you face is whether to repair what's there or strip it off and start again - and getting that call wrong either way costs money.
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Exterior cladding is a protective skin fixed to the outside walls of a building. It keeps driving rain and wind off the wall structure beneath, can improve thermal performance, and changes the appearance of a property. Properly installed cladding reduces long-term maintenance and can prevent costly water damage to the fabric of the building.
The main materials used on domestic properties are uPVC boards, composite boards and metal panels. Each suits different budgets and aesthetics. uPVC is the most widely used because it's cost-effective and maintenance-free. Composite offers a timber-like appearance with greater durability. Metal panels are generally chosen for contemporary-style properties or extensions where a clean, modern finish is wanted.
Older cladding - particularly uPVC that's more than two decades old - develops problems that are worth understanding before you decide how to respond to them. The most common issues are:
Repair is the right choice when the problem is localised, the rest of the installation is sound, and the boards are not at the end of their structural life. A cracked board on an otherwise solid system can be replaced like-for-like. A failed sealant joint at a window reveal can be raked out and resealed. A loose fixing can be replaced.
The condition of the majority of the installation is the key test. If 80 percent of the boards are still flat, well-fixed, watertight and presentable, spending money to repair the 20 percent that have failed is sensible. You're extending the life of a system that still has years left in it.
Matching existing boards can sometimes be a challenge, particularly with older or discontinued product ranges. Colour and profile matches are not always exact. Where the repaired area is clearly visible - say, a front elevation - a close-but-not-perfect match may be more noticeable than you'd like. It's worth being realistic about this before committing to a patch repair on a prominent face.
Replacement makes more sense when the problems are widespread, when the underlying wall has been damaged, or when the boards themselves have become structurally compromised rather than just cosmetically tired. Specific situations that point towards full replacement include:
Full replacement also gives you the opportunity to address whatever was done wrong first time - missing membranes, wrong fixings, poorly detailed junctions - and to install a system that should not need significant attention for many years.
Repair costs depend entirely on what needs doing. Replacing two or three individual boards and resealing joints on a single elevation might cost a few hundred pounds. Addressing multiple areas of a full house could run to £800 to £1,500 or more, depending on access requirements and the extent of the work.
Full replacement on a semi-detached house - stripping the old cladding, treating or repairing the wall behind, fitting a membrane or batten system and re-cladding - typically falls in the range of £3,000 to £7,000 depending on the material chosen and the area involved. Composite and metal panel systems sit at the higher end of that range. uPVC sits at the lower end.
The honest question to ask when weighing up repair against replace is: how many more years of life are you buying? If a repair costs £1,000 and buys you three years before the rest of the system fails, a full replacement at £5,000 may be the better investment. If a repair costs £400 and there's a reasonable decade left in the rest of the boards, repair wins.
Before agreeing to either repair or replacement, the wall behind the cladding needs to be assessed. This usually means lifting or removing a board in a representative area to see what's underneath. A contractor who recommends full replacement without looking behind the boards is guessing. Equally, one who recommends repair without checking the condition of the substrate is potentially missing the real problem.
A proper assessment should establish:
If the wall is damp or damaged, that must be addressed before new cladding goes on. Fitting new boards over a damp wall traps moisture and accelerates deterioration of both the wall and the new cladding from behind.
Whether you're repairing or replacing, the quote you receive should be itemised. You need to know what material is being used, whether wall prep is included, how junctions at windows and doors will be handled, and what trims and flashings are covered. A quote that gives only a single total figure for the job doesn't give you the information to compare contractors or to understand what you're paying for.
Questions worth asking any contractor before you agree to work:
Cladding replacement is a sensible time to look at the fascias, soffits and gutters at the same time, because scaffolding is already in place. Timber fascia boards that have been quietly rotting behind old cladding often reveal themselves once boards come down. Combining the work avoids the expense of a second scaffold erection later.
If gutters are leaking or overflowing, they should be repaired or replaced before new cladding goes on beneath them. Water running down fresh cladding from a failed gutter will find any small gap at a joint or junction and accelerate deterioration from the outside as well as from behind.
We work with homeowners in Brandon and across the surrounding area. If your cladding is showing problems and you're not sure whether repair or replacement is the right call, call us to arrange a survey. We'll inspect the wall, be straight with you about what we find, and give you an itemised quote for whatever work is actually needed.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
