Latest Posts
June 8, 2019 3:32 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
During the 1970s there was a trend for building houses with mock Tudor beams and dark mahogany window frames and soffits. That look has become very dated and for our clients Johan and Heidi it was a look that had to change! When I first met the couple at their home in Abbots Langley, just north of Watford in Hertfordshire, they had been thinking of getting the front of the house rendered to replace the mock Tudor beams. But when they saw how James Hardie Cladding could transform a house, they immediately changed their minds. Asbestos to remove Then we looked at the soffits, which we found were made of asbestos-covered in uPVC, so they had to go. And my... View Article
May 20, 2019 9:42 am
Published by Summit Cladding
Stunning transformation using Hardieplank cladding In this blog – how Summit Cladding transformed an ugly old garage into a smart new home office using hardieplank cladding. We were contacted by Karen and her husband who live in a 1930s semi-detached house in Greenwich, South London. They were renovating their property, but with space at a premium, they just couldn’t find the room for the home office they both wanted so much. The answer was outside the house! At the side of the property was a single garage built of white-painted concrete panels, standing on an unsightly brick plinth extending part way into the garden. And as Karen and her husband looked at the old building, containing all the odd bits... View Article
May 11, 2019 3:21 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
If there’s one lesson that we all have to learn about our homes, it’s that even the finest building materials will have to be repaired or replaced one day. This blog is the story of a 1970s house in Chigwell, Essex, which needed some urgent attention when Summit Cladding was called in. Our client, Clive, is in charge of maintaining a portfolio of properties in Loughton and Chigwell and he contacted us when he noticed that nature was taking its toll on the wooden bargeboards. After 40 years, the wood was beginning to rot and damp was getting into the soffits, partly because the gutters were full of debris and no longer working properly. Removing old woodwork Our first task... View Article
March 25, 2019 12:12 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Our latest client, Marco, called in Summit Cladding when he decided the front of his house was looking “tired” and in need of some tender loving care. Not only was the paintwork peeling away, but the gutters were constantly leaking – and just to make things worse Marco had been let down by decorators who were put off by the extent of the rotten timber. Time for action There comes a time in the life of every property when the timber degrades to such an extent that further painting is no longer economical. With Summit Cladding called in to rescue the situation, we erected scaffolding and stripped off all the original timber at the front of the house, checking that... View Article
March 8, 2019 10:06 am
Published by Summit Cladding
Replacing pebble dash Pebble dash – love it or loathe it? A lot of houses have been covered with this popular exterior finish over the past hundred years or more. But, in our experience, most of our clients want to get rid of it, as was the case with Tanya and her husband, based in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. A large section of pebble dash on the front of their house had fallen away, leaving broken tiles and an ugly mess on the wall. Time for Summit Cladding to put things right! Colour choice They had seen examples of James Hardie Cladding on other buildings and decided that was what they wanted. I showed them samples of different colours and after discussing... View Article
February 20, 2019 12:13 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
When your house is almost 100 years old with unique features, it’s a big step to bring it up to date without spoiling its character. Our client, Flavia, from Barnet, had lived in her house for many years and had always been reluctant to swap original wooden fixtures for pvc replacements. Three years ago she ‘bit the bullet’ and did replace the window frames – but would she also change all the fascias and soffits? Textured pvc identical to timber Flavia’s reluctance was due to the unusual curved timber inserts and original tongue and groove porch recess, which gave the house its character. She just wasn’t prepared to lose that ‘look.’ This was where Summit Cladding was able to provide... View Article
February 13, 2019 10:32 am
Published by Summit Cladding
In the early days of motoring, the old joke was that you could have any colour of car that you wanted, as long as it was black. In the early days of pvc soffits and fascias, it was the other way round – the only colour you could get was white! But now the colour everyone wants is grey – light grey, dark grey – there’s a huge range of options available with guttering and downpipes to match. More up to date Summit Cladding was contacted by clients who live in Loughton, Essex, with beautiful views of the Forest. Their house was fitted with white pvc soffits and fascias in 1980, but they wanted something more up to date. They... View Article
February 2, 2019 10:47 am
Published by Summit Cladding
If you’re lying in bed and think you hear noises in the attic, then chances are you’ll have some unwelcome guests. That’s what happened to one of our clients in St Albans, who called on Summit Cladding for help. The client found birds nesting inside the roof after a section of timber bargeboard had fallen away. He hadn’t been able to maintain the boards properly because the pitched garage roof at the side of the house made access difficult. Not only the birds Summit Cladding is often called in by clients who notice that the roofline of their house is looking tired and worn, but they don’t realise how serious that can be – and we aren’t only talking about... View Article
January 25, 2019 11:35 am
Published by Summit Cladding
Summit Cladding travelled to the leafy lanes of Surrey for this latest job – to rescue a client in distress! Chrissy had moved from London to Dorking to be closer to her parents and had found the ideal property, in need of a complete refurbishment. But unfortunately, the contractors who had been commissioned to do the job had made a complete hash of it. We became involved after Chrissy’s project manager called us, on the recommendation of her London-based interior designers. Terrible finish When I arrived to meet my new client, I was appalled at the finish of the job left by the contractors. The house originally had cedar cladding, but the builders used cheap softwood to match it. I... View Article
January 18, 2019 10:08 am
Published by Summit Cladding
A clear blue sky over Enfield in North London makes the perfect backdrop to illustrate Summit Cladding’s latest bit of handiwork. As with most of our jobs, this was a specialist installation designed to replace original woodwork – but using maintenance-free pvc. We have been trading for over 35 years now and we are proud to be getting recommendations from different generations of the same family. It was our prospective client’s son who recommended us to his dad, a director of a penthouse suite in a block of flats in Enfield north London. The construction company that built the flats 10 years ago had fitted pvc to all the fascias of the building, except for those on the front elevation,... View Article
