Choosing the right cladding material for your Bury St Edmunds home is the most important decision in the whole project, and Brandon Roofers will give you an honest account of what each option actually involves.
Exterior cladding is a long-term investment. The boards you fit today will be on your home for fifteen, twenty, or in some cases thirty or more years if the right material is chosen and the installation is done properly. Get the material wrong and you will be replacing it in half that time. We work on homes in Bury St Edmunds and nearby, and we fit timber, composite and fibre cement cladding. Below is an honest account of each, including the downsides.
Timber is the most traditional option and, when specified and installed correctly, it looks genuinely good on a wide range of property types. The profiles most commonly used in the UK are featheredge (also called waney edge), shiplap, square-edge and tongue-and-groove. Each has a slightly different appearance and a different level of maintenance requirement.
The main advantage of timber is appearance. No other material replicates the natural grain and depth of real wood. Western red cedar and Siberian larch are far more durable than treated softwood and weather to an attractive silver-grey if left unfinished, or can be oiled or stained.
The honest downsides: Timber requires ongoing maintenance. Softwood cladding typically needs repainting or restaining every three to five years if you want it to stay looking good and performing well. Hardwood is more forgiving but still benefits from periodic treatment. End grain at cut edges must be sealed during installation - this is where rot almost always starts when it does. Timber also moves with moisture content changes through the seasons, so boards need correctly sized fixing slots rather than tight fixings that resist movement.
Expect to pay more for hardwood species and for correctly specified factory-treated softwood compared to bare timber purchased from a builder's merchant and treated on site.
Composite boards are made from a mixture of wood fibre and plastic, bonded under heat and pressure. The result is a board that looks broadly similar to timber but behaves more like a plastic product in terms of maintenance.
The main advantages are low maintenance and consistent appearance over time. Composite boards do not need painting or staining, will not rot, and are resistant to insect damage. They are also dimensionally stable, meaning they move far less than timber through seasonal changes. For a homeowner who does not want to think about the cladding again for years, composite is a practical choice.
The honest downsides: Quality varies enormously between manufacturers. Cheaper composite boards can fade, stain or surface-crack within a few years, particularly on south-facing elevations where UV exposure is high. The better products are noticeably more expensive than timber. Composite also feels different to the touch and, on closer inspection, looks artificial compared to real wood. If the appearance of your elevation matters to you aesthetically, it is worth looking at physical samples in daylight before committing. Some composite boards are also heavier than equivalent timber, which affects the fixing specification.
Fibre cement boards are made from Portland cement, sand and cellulose fibre. They are manufactured to resemble timber boards in profile, and most are supplied pre-primed ready for painting on site.
The main advantages are durability and fire resistance. Fibre cement does not rot, is not affected by insects, and will not burn. It holds a painted finish well - manufacturers typically quote fifteen years before repainting is needed, though actual performance varies with the quality of the paint system used. Fibre cement is a good choice where planning conditions restrict cladding to a painted finish, because it takes paint cleanly and holds colour well.
The honest downsides: Fibre cement is heavy and brittle. It requires care during handling and cutting, and installers need dust control when cutting because the dust is a respiratory hazard. Boards that are dropped or impacted can crack. On-site painting requires the right conditions - cold or damp weather during painting degrades adhesion. Fibre cement also needs correct jointing at board ends and around openings; gaps or missing sealant allow water to penetrate the substrate and the board can delaminate over time.
There is no single answer. The honest way to approach it is to consider three things: the look you want, the maintenance commitment you are prepared to make, and the budget available.
New cladding often prompts a look at fascias, soffits and guttering at the same time. If the existing fascias are timber and showing signs of rot, fitting new cladding below them and leaving them in place is a short-sighted approach - you will be back on the scaffold within a couple of years for the fascia work anyway. Combining the work saves on access costs and makes the finished elevation look complete. We carry out fascia and soffit replacement and guttering installation or repair alongside cladding projects.
Getting clear written answers to these before you accept a quote protects you from unexpected costs once work starts.
If you want to see samples of the materials we fit and get a clear price for your elevation, call Brandon Roofers to arrange a visit and we will assess the job properly before giving you a quote.
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