Categories for Guttering
February 13, 2018 8:10 am
Published by Summit Cladding
If you’ve read our blog before, you might remember previous reports about the horror that is “finlock concrete guttering” — three words to strike fear into any householder! This system, which was popular with some builders in the 1960s, is where a concrete gutter is fixed to the top of the house wall, instead of a conventional gutter being attached to the end of the roof joists. And as sure as night follows day, the concrete eventually starts to break down and moisture leaks into the top of the cavity walls. Time to fix it! Katie and her partner, from Enfield, knew they had a problem with their finlock gutters and they’d tried to keep out the damp by getting... View Article
October 25, 2017 9:40 am
Published by Summit Cladding
When in doubt, call the professionals – especially when you can’t persuade the family to help! That’s what our client, Amaryllis, did when she wanted a makeover at her north London home. Amaryllis and her family have been in their home for about ten years and had previously had work done by a loft conversion company. However, the standard of work was very poor and we recommended stripping out much of the products and starting again. Our client approached us via our showroom in Crews Hill, Enfield, where she explained that her two sons were in the building trade. But despite countless attempts to persuade them to help her transform the property, she realised she was fighting a losing battle... View Article
August 1, 2017 9:34 am
Published by Summit Cladding
If you are lucky enough to live in an art deco house you will know how important it is to maintain and protect the period features. I was amazed and delighted, therefore, to come across not one house, but a whole cul-de-sac full of art deco houses, all with their original windows intact. Summit cladding was visiting our new client, Antonius and his wife, who have been living in their period art deco house in East Twickenham for over 30 years. Antonius didn’t want the house to look any different, but he had major problems with all the guttering and fascia boards, which needed attention. He had also built a beautiful gazebo to the rear of the house that made... View Article
April 18, 2017 5:09 am
Published by Summit Cladding
I’m sure we have all watched those programmes on TV where somebody’s house or garden gets a secret makeover. Well recently, Summit Cladding was happy to take part in a bit of “cloak and dagger” to give a lady a big surprise. It all started with a telephone call from Jonathan, about his mother-in-law’s house in Edgware. His instructions were very specific – and a bit mysterious! We were to drive to an address and park around the corner. Under no circumstances should we knock on the door, but when we got there we were to call Jonathan for further instructions. Don’t tell mother-in-law! It turned out that this was to be a gift for his mother-in-law, whose house was... View Article
March 8, 2017 6:13 am
Published by Summit Cladding
A recent insurance company survey revealed that one in ten DIY jobs are so badly botched that a professional builder has to come to the rescue. Luckily Summit Cladding’s latest job didn’t get to that stage because the householder was wise enough to come to us before the problem arose! Sylvia contacted us on behalf of her mum who’s lived in her terraced house in Edmonton, North London, for over 30 years. She explained that her mum was extremely proud of her home — except for the exterior. She was worried that a DIY canopy above the front door might fall off the wall and injure someone. Concrete gutter issues Also, there was concrete guttering above the front bay window,... View Article
February 20, 2017 1:30 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Summit Cladding is always happy to offer householders free advice on exterior makeovers. From older period properties to modern standard designs, Summit can give your home the “wow factor!” Our client, Philomena, contacted us for advice on fitting a new front door canopy after the old one came off. Philomena had been searching for a company that specialises in front door canopies for some time and a friend of hers visited our showroom in Cattlegate Road, Crews Hill, Enfield. We arranged an appointment to offer a range of alternative designs that would compliment the age and style of her home. Cladding for symmetry Summit recommended an enclosed “V” canopy with James Hardy composite cladding to the centre of... View Article
February 14, 2017 5:55 am
Published by Summit Cladding
Now here’s a question: what do you do when your clients are not on speaking terms with their neighbours — but you need access next door to put up scaffolding? Answer: get the builders to play Cupid! This is a problem that Summit Cladding has faced in the past — and one that we had to face again in this latest job in a quiet cul-de-sac in Loughton, Essex. We were approached by Victor and June who asked us to carry out the same work on their house as we had previously installed on a neighbours’ property. But then we discovered that they were not on good terms with their neighbours and didn’t know whether they would allow us access... View Article
February 7, 2017 4:19 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Summit Cladding faced a double challenge to enhance the look of this 1960s detached house in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. Not only did we have to reach the highest point of the house, but we also had to remove and safely dispose of some asbestos. Summit were recommended to our client, David, after he’d seen the work we carried out for his brother-in-law in St Albans. Part of our task at David’s house was to replace the wooden barge boards. These are the large lengths of timber that follow the outline of the roof, shaped like an inverted letter “v.” As they are at the highest point of the house they are normally out of reach and difficult to maintain. When they... View Article
January 25, 2017 8:38 am
Published by Summit Cladding
Maintenance Free! If you are going to have cladding installed on the outside of your house, you will want it to be maintenance-free, won’t you? What you don’t want is old softwood boards that will start to rot within a few years! That’s a problem a lot of homeowners have faced, because builders tend to use cheaper softwood timber, instead of hardwood — and even builders using pvc sometimes don’t get it right. Summit cladding is a specialist roofline pvc fitting company and we recently completed an installation of maintenance-free roofline products for clients who live in a detached property in Barnet, North London. We were pleased to be recommended to our clients, who were going to have their windows... View Article
November 22, 2016 6:34 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Summit Cladding was recently contacted by our customers, who live in St Albans, Hertfordshire. They moved into their detached property five years ago and had noticed the deteriorating condition of structural timber around their investment. They had replaced the original windows four years ago and realised that uPVC was a great alternative to the continuous maintenance required by wooden fascias and soffits. One of our client’s concerns was how the work was going to be done. They had a conservatory at the rear of their address and a garage at the side with a tiled roof that made access challenging. Summit Cladding arranged an on-site meeting to discuss the logistics of the installation with the client. The solution to the access... View Article
