10 Considerations When Choosing Cladding
Here we give you 10 considerations that everybody should make when choosing to clad their home. We cover everything from material to Return on Investment, providing a framework for you to base a decision of how you will clad your home on.
ROI (Return on Investment)
With the current fluctuating real estate climate (and an expected incoming crash at the time of writing this post), it is crucial to make sure that you make the best decision that will bring the most value from renovating your home in the short and long term. Exterior cladding renovations are one of the best ways to increase the curb appeal and value of your home to potential buyers, current and future. Products such as vinyl cladding provide an extremely long lasting, durable and sleek alternative to timber and fibre cement products, never needing to be painted or maintained, providing some of the best ROI of any other cladding product in the industry.
What type of product suits you best?
Factors such as location may influence which product is suited best to you and your home. You may want a certain style to match the area that you are located in. Whilst style is a crucial part of the buying decision, it isn’t the most important. You can select something less durable like timber weatherboards if you want the most traditional look possible, however if you are not willing to get it painted every 5 years or so to have it looking its best, perhaps it is not the right product for you. Additionally, you may want a corrugated iron look, but live in a coastal area where the salt in the air will affect the iron over time.
What style are you looking for?
Whilst choosing the right product for your situation is critical, we will concede that style does still play a big part. Exterior cladding renovation is done for the most part for visual reasons that will increase curb appeal. Depending on you’re the shape, style and age of your home you may want to look at various different options. Have a look at our gallery to get some ideas of how new and old homes can benefit from different styles of cladding.
Pricing and value
Cheap cladding products don’t always mean a good deal, nor does expensive cladding mean that you are going to get the best and most durable product on the market. Consider the features and benefits of each product alongside the cost of the product. In our opinion vinyl cladding offers by far the best features and benefits, and is usually priced in the middle of the cheapest and most expensive products.
Insulation Benefits
Insulation and energy efficiency are crucial when considering exterior cladding options. Some options like iron and steel often offer no insulation and may actually increase the heat of your home, whilst other options such as insulated vinyl cladding will offer an insulation benefit and will increase the R-Value of your home. In general, the higher the R-Value of your home, the more energy efficient you will be.
Comparing benefits of other products
Every cladding product will have its own list of benefits, whether practical or personal. Various products will have their own set of pro’s and con’s, from pricing to durability. Do research into what suits you best. From our experience, something like vinyl cladding is the best option to go for as it offers very few draw backs for a very reasonable price.
Structural requirements/benefits
Most cladding products can go directly onto the frame, but some products may benefit from additional products to provide some sort of bracing. If you are renovating an existing house, many products can go over your current products, such as vinyl cladding over brick or weatherboards etc. without any issue, whilst others may require removal of current cladding products to replace what is currently there. If building a new house the same rule applies, if using something like vinyl cladding it can go directly onto the frame, but some sort of bracing is generally preferred to make your build as solid as possible.
Durability and lifespan
Every product is going to offer different durability benefits and have a different rated lifespan. Products such as timber weatherboards and fibre cement may suffer from splitting or rot after a short period of time. Others like aluminium cladding whilst having a long lifespan in terms of colour retention and also benefits such as insulation, will be easily damaged by impact such as hail damage. Products like Kaycan Insulated Vinyl Cladding offer warranties against all of this and are the most durable products available on the market.
Your installer
Who you choose and the products they use to install your cladding can have a big impact on the longevity and quality of the work. Paintbusters Cladding specialises in all types of cladding, and this is essentially all we do, so you can be sure you will get the most professional service available.
Maintenance of chosen house cladding
The last consideration and an often-overlooked part of cladding a house is the maintenance of the cladding system in the long run, and what is required physically and monetarily. Some cladding products like Kaycan Insulated Vinyl Cladding are truly maintenance free, and only require washing once or twice a year to keep your home looking brand new. Others may require painting or replacement, or treatment against other elements such as water.