Categories for Cladding
December 2, 2024 5:14 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Installation Gallery The history and problems with hanging-tiles Fitting cladding to exterior house walls has a very long history – over 300 years in fact. But in those far off days the cladding consisted of vertically hung tiles to keep out the weather. Tile hung houses first appeared in the south of England around 1700, a design feature that spread from The Netherlands. At that time many houses had walls made of wattle and daub within a timber frame, not brickwork, so the tiles helped with insulation and weather proofing. Tile hanging was adopted throughout the following centuries in a variety of styles, shapes and colours and it was especially popular during the Arts and Crafts period. In more recent... View Article
June 19, 2024 8:48 am
Published by Summit Cladding
Installation Gallery Maintenance free Millboard cladding Who doesn’t love the look and feel of real timber? Here at Summit Cladding clients often ask us how much maintenance would be required if they opted for natural wood cladding on the side of their house. But when they’re advised of the regular upkeep needed, they generally opt for something that looks like the real thing but requires zero maintenance. On this job in Stratford, East London, we were working with an amazing product called board and batten “Envello” cladding by Millboard. It’s hand-crafted, made from polyurethane resin, not plastic, and resists all the problems affecting natural timber, such as warping and splintering. What’s more, the several different colours offered will never fade.... View Article
October 12, 2023 8:21 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Here at Summit Cladding we are always keen to take on a challenge, especially when the property is a bit unconventional. This latest cladding installation job was in Loughton, Essex, and involved what’s known as a BISF house. The letters stand for British Iron and Steel Federation and, as the name suggests, the house has a steel frame, not conventional brickwork. Tens of thousands of BISF houses were built in the 1940s and 50s to cope with the shortage of housing facing returning servicemen and their families who’d been bombed out of their homes during World War 2. A simple and quick solution They were designed to be simple and cheap to build, as a quick solution to an urgent... 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 5, 2020 10:13 am
Published by Summit Cladding
People say that you can find anything on the internet if you know where to look. Our latest clients, Bob and Jo from Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, did just that and managed to find Summit Cladding very quickly. They knew what they wanted their house makeover to look like, so they searched on Pinterest, the site that allows users to find ideas from photos and other images. And when they saw pictures of work done by Summit Cladding, they knew they had found what they were looking for. Before the lockdown Bob and Jo contacted us in early March, before the start of the coronavirus lockdown, so there was no problem going to their house for a consultation over a cup... View Article
August 22, 2019 9:11 am
Published by Summit Cladding
There’s nothing quite like genuine cedarwood cladding to make a house stand out from the crowd. We’ve written before on here about the importance of getting the right materials, when there is such a wide choice available. Summit Cladding were called to a stunning property in the heart of Epping Forest, not far from Waltham Abbey, Essex. Our clients had employed general builders to do most of the conversion work, but they felt let down when the builders failed to deliver the finished quality demanded by their architect. As a company specialising in cladding, Summit were able to advise on the best choice of timber cladding to suit the look of the property. And, as with every other building material,... View Article
July 3, 2019 2:03 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Here’s a great example of what Summit Cladding can do to transform not one, but a whole block of homes, to bring them up to date with their neighbours. Our client and her fellow committee members run their own property management company in this 1970s block in the leafy hidden part of Winchmore Hill in Enfield, North London. The building was looking tired and dated, while all around them modern flats were being built at almost double the price. Our clients’ answer was to break out of the 1970s “time warp” and order a thorough makeover to bring the block up to date. Door canopies constructed As an illustration of just how neglected the building had become, there used to... View Article
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 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 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
