If you are planning exterior cladding on your Saffron Walden home, knowing exactly what the job involves from start to finish helps you plan around it and ask the right questions.
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Exterior cladding fits a weatherproof outer layer to the walls, gable ends or dormers of a building. We install and repair timber, fibre cement and composite cladding on homes, extensions and outbuildings, working in Saffron Walden and across to our base in Haverhill. This page walks through a typical installation job, stage by stage.
No two jobs are identical - the wall type, existing surface, height of the building and material chosen all affect the sequence. But the core steps below apply to the great majority of domestic cladding installations.
Before any materials are ordered, a proper look at the existing wall is essential. On a repair job, this means checking the condition of the existing boards, battens and any breather membrane behind. On a new installation, it means assessing the substrate - whether it is brick, blockwork, render or existing cladding - and confirming it is structurally sound and dry enough to work on.
Window and door reveals are measured at this point, because cladding changes the external face of the wall and the existing trim may need extending or replacing to cover the new depth. Any junctions with rooflines, soffits or neighbouring materials are noted, because these are the areas most likely to cause problems if they are not dealt with carefully.
For homes, it is worth checking at this stage whether the property or its location means planning permission is needed. Cladding changes the external appearance of a building, and in some cases - listed buildings, conservation areas, or certain types of extension - permitted development rights do not apply. If there is any doubt, the local planning authority is the right first call before work starts.
Cladding work is external, but it still generates dust, debris and foot traffic around the building. Scaffolding or a tower is put up before any stripping or fixing begins. The ground around the base of the wall is protected, and downpipes and external fittings that would obstruct the work are temporarily removed and stored safely.
If there are existing boards being stripped, this stage also involves removing them carefully, checking what comes off against what was expected, and disposing of the material. Asbestos-containing materials were used in some older external cladding products, and if there is any doubt about the age or type of the existing cladding, a sample should be tested before stripping begins.
A breather membrane is fixed directly to the wall surface. This is a permeable sheet that allows moisture vapour to pass through from the inside while blocking liquid water from getting in from outside. It also provides a secondary line of defence if water gets behind the cladding boards. The membrane is lapped correctly at horizontal joints and taped at vertical joints to prevent water tracking behind it.
Treated timber battens are then fixed through the membrane and into the wall. The battens serve two purposes: they provide a flat, level surface for fixing the cladding boards to, and they create a ventilated cavity between the membrane and the back of the cladding. This cavity is important - it allows air to circulate and moisture to escape rather than accumulating. Battens are typically 25mm to 50mm deep depending on the system and the wall behind.
Any penetrations through the wall - pipes, cables, overflow outlets - are dealt with at this stage, because patching around them after the cladding is on is far harder to do neatly and waterproof correctly.
Boards are started at the bottom of the wall and worked upward. The lowest board is bedded on a starter strip or batten that holds it at the correct angle, and each subsequent board overlaps the one below it by the specified amount. The overlap dimension matters - too little and water can track behind in a strong wind; too much and the profile looks wrong and wastes material.
Fixings are stainless steel or hot-dipped galvanised. Zinc-plated fixings will rust within a few years when used externally, and rust from fixings stains the boards below them. On timber cladding, fixings are placed to allow the board to move slightly as it expands and contracts - locking a board rigidly at both edges causes it to split.
Cut ends on fibre cement boards are sealed before installation. On timber, every cut end is treated with a preservative or sealant. End grain is the primary entry point for moisture in timber cladding, and sealing it properly at every cut is one of the details that separates a long-lasting job from one that fails early.
Internal and external corners are formed with purpose-made corner sections, mitred boards or a cover strip depending on the material and the agreed finish. Each approach has a different appearance, and it is worth agreeing which you want before work starts.
Where the cladding meets window frames, door frames, soffits and rooflines, a neat and genuinely watertight junction is needed. This usually involves a combination of trim sections and sealant. The sealant used must be suitable for external use and compatible with both surfaces it bonds to. Paintable silicone or specialist jointing compounds are typically used rather than standard white bathroom sealant.
Where cladding runs up to a roofline or beneath a dormer, the junction with roofing materials - felt, tiles, flashings - needs to be sealed and detailed so that any water running down the roof surface cannot track behind the top edge of the cladding.
Pre-primed timber and factory-painted fibre cement boards will usually need a topcoat on site once they are fixed. Two topcoats are standard for a durable finish. Composite boards typically arrive finished and do not need painting.
Once painting is complete, downpipes and external fittings are refitted, scaffolding comes down, and the area around the property is cleared. Any offcuts, old boards and packaging are removed from site.
A final check of all sealant joints, fixing heads and board edges while access is still in place is good practice before signing the job off. If you are having the work done, ask the contractor to walk around the finished job with you at that point so any concerns can be noted and dealt with before they leave.
For cladding work in Saffron Walden and surrounding areas, look for a contractor who can explain the specification they plan to use - membrane type, batten depth, fixing specification and junction detailing - before the job starts. Vague answers at that stage tend to mean vague workmanship once they are on site. We work across Saffron Walden and back to Haverhill on cladding installations and repairs. Call us to arrange a survey of your property.
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