Once your exterior cladding is fitted at your Eye property, the way you look after it in the years that follow makes a significant difference to how long it performs well.
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Exterior cladding fitted to a home in Eye keeps rain and frost away from the underlying walls, reduces the maintenance burden on the wall surface itself, and gives the property a cleaner, more finished look. The systems we fit at Diss Roofers include uPVC, timber and composite boards, all properly fixed and sealed to prevent water getting in behind them.
A well-installed cladding system will serve a property for many years. But "many years" varies considerably depending on the material used and, importantly, how well the cladding is looked after once the scaffolding has come down. This page covers what that maintenance actually involves.
Most people choose cladding partly because they want a lower-maintenance exterior. That is fair, and compared to painted render or exposed brickwork, cladding is genuinely less demanding. But lower maintenance does not mean no maintenance. Neglecting a few simple tasks is one of the main reasons cladding installations that should last for decades start causing problems within five to ten years.
The good news is that the maintenance involved is not particularly technical or expensive. Catching small issues early - a loose trim, a sealant joint beginning to fail, a build-up of algae in a shaded area - prevents them becoming large and costly problems later.
All cladding types benefit from being cleaned periodically. The frequency depends on the material, the aspect of the wall and what surrounds the property - a wall in full sun under a clear sky stays cleaner than a north-facing wall in the shade of trees.
uPVC cladding is the easiest to maintain. A wash with warm soapy water and a soft brush or cloth, followed by a rinse with a hose, keeps it looking good and prevents the build-up of grime and biological growth that can, over time, begin to stain the surface. Avoid abrasive cleaners or solvents - these damage the surface finish and cause premature fading.
Timber cladding needs more attention. Dirt and moisture on untreated or poorly protected timber surfaces leads to mould, algae and eventually rot. Clean timber cladding with a soft brush and a mild wood cleaner, working in the direction of the grain. Once clean and dry, check the condition of the protective finish - oil, stain or paint depending on what was applied originally. If water is no longer beading off the surface, the finish has thinned and should be refreshed before the wood begins to absorb moisture.
Composite cladding is broadly similar to uPVC in cleaning needs - soap, water, a soft brush and a rinse. Check the manufacturer's guidance if you have it, as some composite finishes respond poorly to certain cleaning products.
Pressure washing is worth mentioning specifically. A low-pressure rinse with a wide fan nozzle, kept at a sensible distance, is generally fine for uPVC and composite. High pressure directed at joints, trims or gaps between boards can force water behind the system and cause exactly the kind of moisture ingress the cladding is designed to prevent. Use low pressure or avoid pressure washing altogether if you are not confident in the settings.
Sealant is applied at every junction where the cladding meets another element - window and door frames, soffits, corners, pipes passing through the wall. These joints are the most vulnerable points in any cladding installation. Sealant does not last indefinitely: it can harden, crack, shrink away from the surface it is bonded to, or simply degrade with UV exposure over time.
Once a year, walk around the property and look at every sealant joint you can see. Look for cracking, gaps, or areas where the sealant has pulled away from one side. Catching a failed joint early and having it raked out and resealed is a small job. Leaving it for two or three years while water tracks in behind the boards is a much bigger problem.
Resealing is not a complicated job for a competent tradesperson. Use an exterior-grade sealant suited to the materials it is bonding - the type matters, as silicone does not take paint and some sealants are not compatible with uPVC or certain timber finishes.
Every year or two, go around the cladding and press individual boards gently with the flat of your hand. Boards should feel firm and should not flex significantly. If a board moves noticeably or sounds hollow when tapped, the fixing behind may have failed. This can happen if the original fixings were inadequate, if timber battens have softened with moisture, or if thermal movement over many cycles has worked a fixing loose.
A loose board is not automatically a major problem, but it should be attended to. A board that is not properly fixed will allow more movement, potentially damaging the boards around it, and the gap it creates at the junction makes water ingress more likely.
Timber cladding needs its protective finish maintaining, and this is the task homeowners most often let slide. The timing depends on the product used and the exposure of the wall, but as a general guide, a stained or oiled finish on exposed timber in this part of the country will typically need refreshing every two to four years.
When a timber finish fails, the wood begins absorbing moisture. Wet timber swells, dry timber shrinks. Repeated cycling causes surface checking (fine surface cracks), which let more water in. Left long enough, this leads to deeper cracking, and eventually rot begins. Recoating timber that has been allowed to get to this stage requires stripping back the damaged surface first, which adds significantly to the time and cost.
The practical approach is to keep a note of when the cladding was installed and what finish was applied. Check it regularly and apply a fresh coat while the surface is still in good condition, rather than waiting until it visibly needs it.
Algae and lichen growth is a common issue on north-facing or shaded sections of cladding, particularly in damper periods. On uPVC and composite, it is largely a cosmetic issue that comes away with cleaning. On timber, persistent biological growth holds moisture against the surface and accelerates deterioration.
If you have climbers or wall plants growing near or against clad sections of wall, keep them managed. Plants trapping moisture against cladding and obscuring joints and trims makes inspection difficult and creates conditions that favour rot on timber and algae on all systems.
Some maintenance tasks - repainting or oiling boards at ground level, rinsing down with a garden hose, visually inspecting joints - are things many homeowners can manage themselves. But anything involving working at height above the lower courses of boarding should be left to someone with the right access equipment. That means anything above the ground floor on a typical house needs a ladder or scaffold to do safely and properly.
If you notice persistent damp on an interior wall that was not there before, particularly after your exterior cladding was fitted or after a period of driving rain, call a professional and have the cladding inspected. Water tracking in behind boards is not always immediately obvious from outside and early investigation is far cheaper than letting the problem run.
Diss Roofers fits and inspects exterior cladding systems across Eye and the surrounding area. If you are unsure about the condition of your existing cladding or want a new system fitted properly from the start, call us to arrange a visit.
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