If the cladding on your Hethersett home is starting to look tired, crack or lift, it is telling you something worth listening to before the problem reaches the wall behind it.
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Exterior cladding sits between your home's structural wall and the weather. A well-installed system keeps wind-driven rain out, reduces heat loss through exposed walls, and gives the facade a clean, consistent finish that holds up for years. When it fails, it tends to fail quietly, which is why homeowners in Hethersett and nearby villages often miss the early signs until water has already worked its way behind the boards.
We install and replace cladding on homes across Norwich and the surrounding area, including Hethersett.
Most cladding problems give several warnings before they become urgent. Catching them early saves money and prevents damage to the structure underneath.
Understanding the cause matters as much as spotting the symptom. A patch repair that does not address the underlying cause will fail again within a couple of seasons.
The single most common cause of premature cladding failure is incorrect installation. Boards fixed directly to masonry without a ventilated batten framework trap moisture between the board and the wall. Moisture with nowhere to go will rot timber battens, corrode metal fixings and push back against boards until they deform or detach. A properly installed system has a clear air gap behind the boards so any moisture that gets in can drain and dry out.
Inadequate overlap between boards is another installation fault that causes problems later. Horizontal lap joints need a minimum overlap to resist wind-driven rain. In exposed positions, that overlap needs to be generous. Boards fixed with too small an overlap look fine until the first serious storm.
Using steel screws or nails with timber cladding in an exposed location leads to rust staining and, eventually, fixing failure as the metal corrodes. Stainless steel or hot-dipped galvanised fixings are the standard for external cladding work. Similarly, uPVC and composite boards need fixings and expansion gaps sized for how much those materials move with temperature change. Fix them too tight and the board has nowhere to go in summer heat, so it buckles.
Timber cladding needs periodic inspection and re-coating. Even high-quality treated timber will deteriorate if the surface coating is left to fail and is not renewed. The same applies to sealants at joints, around windows and at the base of a cladding run. Silicone sealants typically last around ten years before they harden, crack and let water through. This is routine maintenance work, not a sign that the cladding system itself is wrong.
New-build properties settle slightly in their first years. Older properties with any foundation movement can cause cladding boards to shift, opening joints that were originally tight. If you notice cracks or gaps appearing at regular intervals or at storey height, it is worth checking whether the building itself has moved before simply re-sealing the joints.
Not every failing board means a full re-clad. If the batten framework behind is sound, individual boards can often be replaced without stripping the whole wall. We strip back the affected area, inspect the battens and membrane behind, replace any damaged components and re-board using matching or compatible material.
If the batten framework is rotten or the breather membrane behind has failed, a full strip and re-clad is the right approach. Attempting to patch over failed battens is a short-term fix that will need doing again within a few years - it costs more in the long run than a proper job first time.
When we survey cladding in Hethersett and across the Norwich area, we always check the condition of the structure behind before recommending a course of action. There is no point pricing up a re-board if the battens underneath are past saving.
A cladding job done correctly starts with removing the existing boards carefully to avoid damaging the wall behind. We check the wall surface, batten framework and breather membrane, and replace anything that has deteriorated. New battens are fixed at the right centres for the board size and weight, leaving a ventilated gap. Boards are fixed with the correct fixings and expansion gaps for the material, with joints and corners sealed or detailed in a way that sheds water away from the structure.
Before we leave site, we check all flashings where the cladding meets window frames, soffits and ground level. These junctions are where water most often finds a way in, and getting them right is as important as the boards themselves.
If you have noticed any of the warning signs above on your Hethersett property, call us to arrange a cladding survey. We will tell you honestly what is causing the problem, whether a repair or a replacement makes sense, and what the work will involve.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
