Mildenhall Roofers fits exterior cladding to homes in Bury St Edmunds, and this page walks you through exactly what the job involves from the first visit to the final tidy-up.
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Most disputes between homeowners and builders come down to unclear expectations. When you know what a cladding job should involve at each stage, you can spot when corners are being cut and ask the right questions before work starts. This is a step-by-step account of how a properly managed exterior cladding installation should go.
Before any material is ordered or any price is agreed, the wall needs to be looked at properly. That means checking what the existing outer surface is: brick, render, existing timber cladding, or blockwork. It means assessing whether the surface is sound enough to accept battens or whether remedial work is needed first. It means looking at the condition of existing flashings, sills, lintels and the junction at eaves level.
A common problem is discovering during this inspection that render has blown in patches, or that a previous cladding job has trapped moisture and the wall behind is wetter than expected. These findings change what material is appropriate and how the job needs to be sequenced. Any contractor who quotes without physically looking at the wall is guessing.
The inspection should also cover any planning or building regulation requirements. Cladding a house with certain materials, or changing its appearance significantly, can require permitted development consent in some areas. A contractor who does not raise this question with you before starting is not doing their job properly.
Once the wall has been assessed and the specification agreed, materials are ordered. For timber, composite and fibre cement systems, this typically means the boards or panels themselves, the batten timber, a breathable wall membrane, fixings, corner trims, starter strips, and any purpose-made flashings for sills and heads above openings.
Lead times vary. Timber and standard composite boards are usually available within a few days. Specialist composite colours or metal cassette systems may take two to three weeks. A good contractor will tell you the lead time upfront and factor it into the programme, not use it as an excuse for delays later.
Materials for a typical detached house elevation - say 40-60 square metres - will arrive on a single vehicle. Boards need to be stored flat and off the ground on site if there is a gap between delivery and installation starting.
This is the stage most often rushed, and the one most likely to cause problems later. Preparation starts with stripping any existing cladding if it is being replaced, which exposes the wall surface and reveals its true condition. Damaged render should be cut back to sound material and made good. Any areas of spalling or soft brick should be assessed - cladding over structural problems does not fix them.
Once the surface is sound, a breathable wall membrane is fixed across it. This membrane stops wind-driven rain from reaching the masonry directly while allowing water vapour from inside the building to pass out. It is fixed tight to the wall surface, lapped at every horizontal joint with the upper sheet overlapping the lower, and taped at vertical joints. Getting the membrane right is not a detail - it is central to how the whole system performs.
Timber battens are fixed through the membrane into the masonry or studwork behind, creating a drainage cavity between the membrane and the back of the cladding boards. The cavity should be at least 25mm - typically 38mm or 50mm is used to give a clear drainage path and some ventilation.
Battens must be fixed at the centres specified for the cladding material being used. For most timber and composite boards, this is 400mm or 600mm centres, but always check the manufacturer's guidance. Battens fixed too far apart allow the boards to flex under wind loading, which causes the fixings to loosen over time.
The bottom of the cavity needs a ventilated closer - a mesh or perforated strip that allows air in at the base and prevents birds, insects and debris from entering while the system breathes. The top of the cavity at eaves level needs to be open to allow warm, moist air to escape rather than condense behind the boards.
The starter course is the most important board on the job. It sets the angle of every board above it, and if it is not level and correctly positioned, the error compounds up the wall. A purpose-made starter strip or the first board set on temporary spacers gives the correct projection at the bottom edge.
Boards are then fixed course by course, working upwards. For face-fixed timber, stainless steel ring-shank nails or screws are used - these resist withdrawal better than plain-shank fixings. For composite systems using a hidden clip, the clip is fixed to the batten and the board edge slides into it before the next board pushes it home. This approach gives a face with no visible fixings.
At internal and external corners, options include purpose-made corner trims, mitred boards or a return piece. Corner trims give the cleanest, most weather-tight result. Mitring timber boards looks excellent when done well but needs precise cutting on site and can open up slightly as the timber seasons.
Every opening in the wall - windows, doors, airbricks, meter boxes - needs to be properly flashed where the cladding meets it. Above windows and doors, a head flashing directs water away from the opening and prevents it from tracking behind the boards. At sills, the cladding needs to stop short and a sill flashing or trim keeps the junction weathertight.
At eaves level, the junction between the cladding and the soffit or fascia above needs careful detailing. If the cladding is carried tight up behind the fascia without a flashing, any water that gets behind the top board has no escape route and will sit against the wall.
Once all boards are fixed and all junctions detailed, the job needs a proper walk-round. Every board should be checked for firm fixing with no movement. Sealant should only appear where it is part of the designed detail - silicone used as a fix-all shortcut at junctions is a sign that the flashing detail was not done properly.
The site should be left clean. Composite and fibre cement boards produce significant cutting dust and off-cuts - these should be removed, not left piled against the house. Batten offcuts and packaging should also be cleared before the job is signed off.
If you are planning exterior cladding for your home in Bury St Edmunds, call Mildenhall Roofers for a site visit and a clear explanation of what the job will involve for your specific property.
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