Diss Roofers handles exterior cladding installations in Attleborough from the initial survey right through to site clean-up, so you know exactly what to expect at every stage.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
A lot of homeowners come to a cladding job knowing what they want the finished wall to look like, but not what needs to happen in between. That gap in knowledge makes it harder to judge whether a quote is realistic, whether corners are being cut, or whether the work is progressing as it should. This page walks through a proper exterior cladding installation from start to finish, so you know what each stage involves and what questions to ask.
Before any materials are ordered or prices confirmed, the wall or walls being clad need a proper look. A good survey is not just a measurement exercise. It checks the condition of the existing wall surface, identifies any areas of damp, cracked render or loose masonry that need addressing before cladding goes on, and looks at how windows, doors, soffits and verges will be detailed around.
Getting the substrate right before you start is not optional. Cladding fitted over a damp or deteriorating wall does not fix the underlying problem - it hides it and usually makes it worse by trapping moisture inside. Any remedial work to the wall surface needs to be factored into the job from the outset.
The survey should also establish what fixings will be needed. Timber frame, steel frame, block and brick all need different approaches, and the wall construction affects which cladding profiles are most practical.
Once the survey is complete and the material choice is made - whether timber, uPVC or composite boards - materials are ordered to match the measured quantities, with a sensible allowance for waste and cutting. Ordering too tight means a delay mid-job when a profile runs short; ordering recklessly wastes the customer's money.
Good planning at this stage also covers flashings, trims, corner pieces, fixings and sealant. These components are often what separate a neat, weathertight finish from one that looks acceptable from a distance but lets water in at the edges.
For a standard single-storey elevation, a good set of ladders or hop-up staging is usually sufficient. For anything at first-floor height or above, or where a significant length of wall needs covering, scaffolding is the right approach. Working safely from height is not negotiable, and proper access also means the finished job is more precise because the installer is not stretching to reach boards.
The wall surface is prepared before battening begins. This means removing any loose render, sealing any cracks with an appropriate filler, and making sure the surface is clean and dry. If there are any areas of damp that need to dry out, work on those areas needs to wait until the moisture has cleared properly.
The battens are the framework the cladding boards fix to, and they are more important than most homeowners realise. Battens should be pressure-treated timber fixed to the wall with appropriate fixings at the correct centres - typically no more than 600mm apart on vertical battens for horizontal boarding. The batten depth creates the ventilation cavity behind the cladding, which allows moisture to escape rather than building up against the wall surface.
On an uneven wall, horizontal packing behind individual battens brings the finished face of the framework into the same plane before any boards go on. A cladding face that ripples or bows is usually the result of battens fixed directly to an uneven wall without packing, or of battens that were not checked with a level as they went up.
Where boards will run horizontally, the battens run vertically, and vice versa. Getting this right means the boards are fully supported along their length and cannot flex between fixing points.
The base of the cladding is the detail most often done poorly and the place where water most readily gets behind the boards. A proper installation starts with a starter strip or drip flashing at the base that holds the first board at the correct angle and prevents water from tracking back up behind it. This strip also keeps the bottom of the board clear of the ground, which is important on timber and composite boards where standing water accelerates deterioration.
Corner trims and window surround trims should go on before the main boarding starts. Trying to cut boards to fit around existing trim is a recipe for gaps. Fitting trim first and running boards into it gives clean, sealed joints and a professional result.
Boards are fixed one by one working up the wall from the starter strip. On uPVC systems, face-fixed boards need their fixing holes pre-drilled slightly oversized to allow for thermal movement. Secret-fixed systems use a clip between each course that allows the board to move without the fixing point being visible on the face.
Horizontal joints where boards meet end to end need to fall over a batten so both ends are supported. End joints left mid-span are a common fault that leads to boards sagging and gaps opening as the material moves. On timber and composite boards, end cuts should be sealed before the board goes on to prevent moisture absorption at the cut face.
Expansion gaps between boards, at corners and around openings are specified by the board manufacturer. Skipping them saves no meaningful time but can cause boards to buckle in warm weather or pull apart in cold. A properly fitted installation allows for movement because movement is inevitable.
Once the main boarding is complete, all joints around windows, doors, soffits and at corners are sealed with an appropriate flexible sealant, tooled smooth. The colour should match the boards or the trim. Sealant applied as a thick bead and not tooled in will crack and pull away faster than sealant properly worked into the joint.
Any cut edges at the top of the cladding where it meets a soffit or fascia are covered by a matching trim that sits over the top of the board. This detail stops water from sitting on top of the last board and soaking down behind it.
A final check runs along every joint and every fixing point before the scaffold or access equipment comes down. Boards are checked for alignment and for any movement that suggests a fixing has not gripped. Sealant is checked for any missed joints. Any smears of sealant on the face of the boards are cleaned off before they cure hard.
All off-cuts, packaging, old render or masonry from wall preparation, and any other site waste are cleared and taken away. The job is not finished until the area around the house is back to how it was found.
If you are planning exterior cladding for your Attleborough home and want to know what the job will actually involve, call Diss Roofers. We will inspect the walls, explain the process, and give you a clear picture of what the work entails before you commit to anything.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
