Haverhill Roofers fits and repairs timber, fibre cement and composite exterior cladding on homes, extensions and outbuildings serving Burwell and the surrounding villages.
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Exterior cladding is a layer of boards or panels fixed to the outside of a wall. Its job is to keep water out and to insulate the structure behind it from the worst of the weather. It also changes the look of a building, which is why it appears on everything from modern extensions to tired-looking dormers that need refreshing.
We work with three main materials: timber, fibre cement and composite. All three can be fitted on houses, outbuildings and extensions. The right choice depends on budget, how much maintenance you are willing to do, and what the building looks like now.
This is the question most homeowners with ageing or damaged cladding face, and the honest answer is that it depends on what is wrong, how far the problem has spread, and what the cladding is made from. A repair is not always the cheaper long-term option, and a full replacement is not always necessary. Here is how to think it through.
Isolated damage is usually repairable. If one section of timber boarding has rotted because a gutter overflowed above it, and the boards either side are sound, replacing just those boards is straightforward and cost-effective. Timber is well-suited to partial repairs because individual boards can be removed and replaced without disturbing the rest of the elevation.
Cracked or split fibre cement panels can sometimes be patched or replaced board by board too, provided the batch colour still matches. If the damage is limited to two or three panels, repair is worth considering before committing to a full strip.
Repair also makes sense when the substrate behind the cladding is dry and structurally sound. If there is no damp penetration into the wall behind, and the damage is surface-level, a targeted repair will hold well.
Signs that repair is the right call:
There are situations where repair is patching over a problem rather than solving it, and those are the jobs where a full replacement saves money over five to ten years.
Timber that has been neglected for a long time often looks like one or two boards need replacing, but once you start removing boards you find that the rot has spread into the battens, the wall plate or the fixings. In those cases, stripping everything back and starting fresh is more reliable than trying to patch each problem as it surfaces.
Composite and fibre cement can be harder to match if the original batch has been discontinued. Replacing a few panels in a different shade draws the eye more than a clean new elevation would. If matching is not possible, replacement of the full elevation often looks better and costs less over time than a patchwork of mismatched boards.
Old cladding fitted without a proper ventilation cavity behind it can cause persistent damp problems regardless of how well the surface is maintained. In these cases, stripping and refitting with a correctly battened cavity resolves the underlying problem rather than masking it.
Signs that replacement makes more sense:
The best starting point is to have the cladding physically inspected rather than assessed from a distance. A roofer or cladding contractor should be able to check a representative section - removing a board or two where necessary to look at what is behind it. This tells you whether the battening is sound, whether the wall is dry and whether the fixings are still holding properly. Without this check, any quote is a guess.
Ask specifically: what is the condition of the battens and fixings? Is there any damp in the substrate? Are all the boards structurally sound or just the ones that look damaged from outside? A contractor who quotes without checking these things is pricing on appearances, not on what the job actually needs.
If replacement is the right route, it is worth comparing your material options at that point rather than automatically replacing like for like. An old timber elevation that needed constant repainting might be better replaced in fibre cement or composite, which need less ongoing attention. The upfront cost is higher, but the long-term maintenance cost is lower.
Timber suits properties where appearance matters and where ongoing maintenance is acceptable. Fibre cement is a strong choice for dormers and gable ends that are difficult to access for repainting. Composite cladding suits homeowners who want very low maintenance and are happy to pay more upfront for it.
Exterior cladding repairs typically cost £150 to £600 depending on how many boards need replacing and the material involved. A full replacement on a modest extension or a pair of dormers runs from around £800 to £2,500 installed, with composite at the higher end and timber at the lower end of that range. Scaffolding, where needed, adds to these figures.
We are based in Haverhill and cover Burwell along with Cambridge, Saffron Walden and other towns and villages in the area. If you are not sure whether to repair or replace, call us and describe what you are seeing - we can usually give you a steer before we even visit, and a proper assessment once we do.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
