Ely Roofers carries out exterior cladding installations and replacements for homeowners in Sutton, and this page explains exactly what happens at each stage of the job so you know what to expect.
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A lot of homeowners ask us what exterior cladding work involves day to day. It's a fair question - it's a significant job on your home, and knowing what each stage involves helps you plan around it and ask the right questions when you're getting quotes. Here's how a typical cladding job runs from start to finish.
Before any price is put together, the wall needs to be looked at properly. That means checking the existing cladding or render for signs of damp penetration, assessing the condition of the substrate behind it, and understanding what the wall construction is - cavity, solid masonry, timber frame or something else. Each of these affects what system can go on and how it needs to be fixed.
Window and door reveals are measured at this stage. Adding cladding to a wall - particularly an insulated system - reduces the depth of the reveal. If that depth is already shallow, the new cladding might push the window frame flush with or even behind the face of the wall, which causes both a practical and an aesthetic problem. Good installers spot this before the job starts, not after the first bay is fitted.
At the survey stage, any areas of existing damp or previous repair should be identified and discussed. If the survey finds that the substrate needs treatment before cladding can go on, that work forms part of the project scope - not a surprise that appears mid-job.
Most cladding work on a two-storey home requires scaffolding. This is erected before any other work begins and should cover the full elevation being clad, with enough working space for materials to be handled safely at height. For single-storey work or small sections, tower scaffolding or a mobile platform may be sufficient, but scaffolding decisions should be made properly rather than cut back to save a day's hire.
Once access is in place, preparation begins. For a render removal and re-clad job, this means hacking off the existing render coat, which is noisy and generates a good deal of rubble - you'll want cars moved from directly beneath the working elevation and any garden furniture or plants near the wall protected or moved. The rubble is collected and removed as part of the job.
For a job where the existing cladding is being replaced like for like - old timber boards coming off, new boards going on - the removal is more controlled. Boards are taken off carefully to avoid damaging the substrate or the battens behind them. Any battens that are rotten or have moved out of level are replaced before the new boards go on. Fitting new boards onto a poor batten frame is one of the most common reasons why a re-clad job doesn't look as flat and even as it should.
Once the old cladding is off, the wall itself can be assessed properly. Any areas of damp masonry need time to dry before cladding goes back on - trying to seal in damp will cause problems later. Damaged pointing, spalled brickwork or cracked blocks should be made good at this stage, while the wall is accessible.
For most cladding systems, a breather membrane goes on before the battens and cladding. This layer is breathable in one direction - it allows water vapour from inside the wall to escape outward, while shedding any water that gets behind the cladding back down and out at the base. Without it, moisture that gets behind the cladding has nowhere to go and causes the kind of damp problems the new cladding was supposed to prevent.
Battens are fixed to the wall first - vertical or horizontal depending on the cladding profile and manufacturer's requirements - creating the ventilated cavity behind the cladding boards. The battens are fixed at centres specified for the board type and wind loading of the elevation.
Cladding boards are then fixed to the battens. The fixing method depends on the material: face-fixed with stainless fixings for most timber products, secret-fixed through the profile for many composite and uPVC systems. Stainless fixings matter on exposed elevations - mild steel will rust and leave staining down the face of the boards within a few years.
Corners, window surrounds and the base of the cladding all need careful detailing. These junction points are where water will try to get in if the work is not done properly. Trims, flashings and sealants at these points should be planned before the boards go on, not improvised around them at the end.
Once the boards are on, any finishing coats or treatments are applied - timber boards that are being painted or stained are usually done with the boards fitted, allowing the edges and back faces to be sealed as well as the face. Any sealant joints around windows and at the base are neatened and checked for continuity.
The installer should walk the elevation with you and point out how the key details have been handled - particularly corner trims, base trims and window reveals. These are the areas most likely to cause problems later if they haven't been done properly, and you are entitled to see them before the scaffolding comes down.
Once the work is signed off and the scaffolding struck, the area around the base of the wall is cleared. Any offcuts, packaging, render debris and fixings are removed. The ground level should be left as it was found.
If you're in Sutton and you're planning a cladding project - or you want to understand what a job on your property would involve before you commit - call Ely Roofers and we'll arrange a visit to go through it with you on site.
We install and replace exterior cladding across the local area. Whether your project is a full re-clad, a like-for-like board replacement or a render system installation, we'll take you through every stage before the job starts so there are no surprises when we're on site.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
