If the cladding on your Withersfield home is starting to look tired or damaged, catching problems early can save you from far costlier repairs down the line.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
Cladding is the outer skin fixed to a wall, dormer face or extension. It keeps driving rain off the structure behind it, cuts down on heat loss through exposed walls and changes how the building looks. We fit and repair timber, fibre cement and composite cladding on homes, extensions and outbuildings in and around Withersfield and the wider Haverhill area.
When cladding is in good shape, you barely think about it. When it starts to fail, the consequences move quickly because water finds its way behind the boards before you can see the damage from the outside.
The most important thing a homeowner can do is look at their cladding a couple of times a year, ideally after a run of wet weather. These are the signs that something needs attention.
Understanding why cladding fails helps you make better decisions about repairs and replacement. It also helps you ask the right questions when you are getting the work quoted.
A large proportion of cladding problems trace back to the way the job was done originally. Boards fixed too close to a flat roof or soil level will wick up moisture. Boards that are not back-primed before fixing will take on water through the unprotected rear face. Battens that are fixed flush to the wall without a ventilated cavity behind the cladding trap moisture against the wall and cause the boards to stay damp.
A correctly installed cladding system has a drainage and ventilation gap behind each board, fixings in stainless steel or hot-dip galvanised steel, and all cut edges sealed before the board goes on the wall. If your current cladding was fitted without these details, deterioration is likely to happen earlier than it should.
Timber cladding needs recoating on a cycle that depends on the product and the exposure of the wall. A south- or south-west-facing wall in an open position can need attention every three to four years. A sheltered north-facing elevation may last longer between treatments. Missing a maintenance window does not just mean the cladding looks shabby - it means the wood is unprotected for the seasons that follow, and the damage accumulates.
Fibre cement and composite cladding need less frequent maintenance, but the joints, top edges and any penetrations still need checking and resealing periodically. The boards themselves may be virtually maintenance-free, but the system around them is not.
Impact damage - from ladders, garden machinery, or objects blown against the wall - can crack or dent boards without being immediately obvious. A crack that looks superficial on a fibre cement board, or a small split in a timber board, is an entry point for water. Dormer cladding in particular takes knocks from anyone working on the roof above it.
Problems arise when repairs are made with boards that do not match the original material's movement behaviour. Timber and fibre cement move at very different rates. Packing a gap in a timber run with a fibre cement section, or vice versa, creates stress at the joints and a gap opens up quickly. Any repair or replacement should match the original material unless you are reclading the whole section.
If you can see one or two soft boards and the rest of the cladding is sound, localised replacement is usually the right call. If the battens behind the boards are also rotted, or if the wall membrane has failed, the scope of work grows. The only way to know is to remove a board and check. We can do that as part of an inspection before any work is agreed.
Call us to book a survey of your cladding before the next wet spell makes things worse.
Cladding on dormers and upper walls is almost always roofing work - the same access, the same materials knowledge and the same understanding of how water moves around a building. A builder working from the ground rarely has the same familiarity with lead flashings, roof membranes and drip edges that sit alongside cladding on a dormer. Make sure whoever you use has done cladding work at height, not just on ground-level extensions.
Ask to see previous jobs, ask what fixings they use, and ask whether they back-prime the boards before fitting. Those three questions will tell you a great deal about the standard of work you are likely to get.
No obligation · We'll call you to arrange a free visit
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
