Author Archives for Summit Cladding
January 31, 2022 12:04 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
There’s no better recommendation for Summit Cladding than when clients say they are so happy with our work that they will present their house as a show home for other customers. That’s what happened after our visit to High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, where former inventor Renny asked us to find a solution to his cladding problems. Renny had spent his working life inventing household products designed to make our lives easier. But now it was his turn to ask for help, to reduce the stress of home maintenance. Timber boards had distorted We have written on this blog in the past about so-called waney edge timber cladding boards which look fine when first nailed on, but eventually twist and distort... View Article
January 15, 2022 1:55 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
If your house looks like all the others in the road there’s one sure-fire way to make it stand out from the crowd – and that’s to fit James Hardie cladding. Lidia was a former client of Summit Cladding so we were delighted when she contacted us again after her recent house move in St Albans, Hertfordshire. At her previous home we had replaced all the old timber fascias, so Lidia was familiar with the quality of our work. At the new house she was wondering what to do about a small area of render on the house wall that was looking tired and in need of attention. The rendered area, above and below one of the first-floor windows, was... View Article
October 19, 2021 9:49 am
Published by Summit Cladding
Many of us dream of living by the seaside. Perhaps you already do, in which case the topic of this blog might be familiar to you. The salty sea air is healthy and invigorating for us humans, but it can be a nightmare for buildings. Summit Cladding travelled to Bognor Regis on the West Sussex coast, to meet clients who moved there 20 years ago and were facing a losing battle against the elements. They had spent a small fortune fighting salt corrosion, replacing fascias and gutters with PVC and constantly repainting the outside of the house with special durable paint. Coastal cladding challenge After my initial consultation with our clients, I approached James Hardie’s technical department to discuss the... View Article
August 15, 2021 6:20 am
Published by Summit Cladding
There was something really striking about this recent makeover by Summit Cladding. We are talking colour – a rich and vibrant blue that you don’t see very often on the side of buildings. Summit had been contacted by a client who lives in this 1960s terraced townhouse in St Albans, Hertfordshire. He wanted to replace the existing coloured panels with our durable Hardieplank, but they had to be exactly the same colour as the originals. The reason was that each of the houses in the estate had their own distinctive colour scheme. As well as our client’s blue, the other houses were coloured black, red, and even mustard yellow. Unique character The houses were very much a product of the... View Article
July 25, 2021 10:27 am
Published by Summit Cladding
One of the many advantages of getting Summit Cladding to give your property a makeover is the vast number of colours available. We can simply transform the look of your house – after you decide the colour you like. On this latest job in Sheering, Essex, a village just off the M11 near Harlow, the owner, Brian, had already been to look at one of our previous installations nearby and decided he liked the colour “Sailcloth,” which is becoming very popular in the Essex countryside. But first, Brian wanted Summit’s advice on how much of the property’s rendered walls to dress with Hardieplank cladding – just the first floor and above, or the whole house? Maintenance-free solution With the challenges... View Article
June 8, 2021 8:47 am
Published by Summit Cladding
“Do it once and do it right” has always been Summit Cladding’s motto. We say there’s no point in doing an installation if it doesn’t stand the test of time. And that’s one thing we can guarantee when clients come to us, looking for a permanent solution to those leaking walls and rotting timbers. Hardieplank cladding really does the business. Our client, Mariah, had been living in her timber-clad house in beautiful Maidenhead, Berkshire, for 15 years, and was getting fed up with hiring decorators every time the woodwork needed some care and attention. Mariah had spent thousands of pounds over the years trying to find decorators who would do a better job than the last lot. With so much... View Article
May 28, 2021 8:49 am
Published by Summit Cladding
It has been an unusually wet Spring so it’s no surprise that many homeowners getting in touch with Summit Cladding have had trouble with damp. In fact, most of our clients come to us because their house walls are no longer water-resistant. Brick and block walls are great while they keep the bad weather out but once the damp gets in, for whatever reason, you’ve got problems. And timber cladding can be just as much of a problem when the woodwork deteriorates and water gets behind it. All this helps to explain why James Hardie composite cladding boards are becoming more and more popular – as was the case with a recent client who owns a lovely 1930s farmhouse in... View Article
May 17, 2021 12:56 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Here at Summit Cladding we pride ourselves on going the extra mile for our clients – not just in what we do for them but how far we travel as well! Out to the leafy lanes of Surrey for this latest job, where a charming lady was looking for our help and expertise. The client had recently moved into a delightful bungalow in Godalming. The setting was perfect and very picturesque, but some of the alterations to the property done by previous owners left a lot to be desired. The workmanship and detail showed that corners had been cut, so it was our job to sort it out for the new owner. Dark timber to be removed The main thing... View Article
April 23, 2021 1:28 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Summit Cladding faced a bit of a head-scratching moment when our clients in Henlow, near Letchworth Garden City, told us they wanted the front wall of their house to be given a bit of a makeover. The job was straightforward enough – it’s what we specialise in – but there was one potential snag. Growing up the front of the house, and attached to the wall that required the work, was a lovely mature wisteria, thought to be at least 30 years old. Clearly, we were not going to cut it down, but we couldn’t do the makeover without moving it out of the way. And we didn’t want to do anything that would harm the plant. Saving the wisteria!... View Article
April 3, 2021 11:32 am
Published by Summit Cladding
Could there be anything nicer and more typically British than living within sight of the white cliffs of Dover, alongside an ancient windmill? This was the scene that greeted us when Summit Cladding travelled down to Kent for our recent assignment. Our clients had lived in their beautiful flint-walled cottage in its idyllic location for over ten years, just yards from the Grade 2 Listed windmill. But unfortunately, their flint wall was causing them a major headache. Much as they loved its appearance, the wall was letting damp into the house and a previous attempt to repoint it with authentic lime mortar had been unsuccessful. This was when Summit Cladding came to the rescue, thanks to the recommendation of a... View Article
