# Forum Home Renovation Cladding  Cladding alternatives to weatherboards.

## Jordan79

Hi all, 
The weatherboards on my house are in a sorry state and definitely need to come off. However before simply replacing them, I'm wondering if anyone has used or seen different cladding alternatives to weatherboards that actually work and don't look out of place? I'm not talking about different types of weatherboard options like Linear and Formplex, but completely different cladding types for a different look. Our house is 60's triple-fronted, with a tiled roof. 
I know a common choice is to clad in cement sheet and render, but I'm looking for other ideas too  :Biggrin:  
Thanks!!

----------


## pharmaboy2

Check james Hardie for a bunch of options, same with Weathertex, expressed joins, vertical - even plywood board products like texture 2000 etc

----------


## OBBob

^ yes ... the Sycon boards look interesting, it's a shame you can't get them in a round edge.

----------


## droog

I have seen a lot of places re-clad in colorbond corrugated iron, usually installed horizontally.

----------


## SilentButDeadly

> I have seen a lot of places re-clad in colorbond corrugated iron, usually installed horizontally.

  It ain't colourbond...but it's lovely and mine all the same  
...and there's always the before option with the outstanding duo tone fake brick

----------


## ringtail

Forget the house, look at that dog. Gotta love a kelpie

----------


## InsaneAsylum

hard to believe there was a time where people actually paid to have that fake brick cladding installed 
I don't mind horizontal coro but it has to be a home in the country or some modernist inspired square box 
I'm interested in this topic. Our lean-to on the back of our victorian has one wall clad poorly in blueboard and you can see part of this from the street and it looks cheap. One day i'll pull it down and reclad with boards that tie in with the rest of the house, like the other side

----------


## OBBob

I know someone who just spent $40 having their weatherboard house clad in fake metal weatherboards ... they can't be bother with the painting.

----------


## phild01

...cheap cladding!  :Smilie:

----------


## OBBob

> ...cheap cladding!

  k ... k, there was meant to be a 'k'!!   
AU$40,000 oops.

----------


## pharmaboy2

Woah, didn't notice that was fake brick - what the hell were people thinking....... 
gotta ta say though, for a single story place, that weathertex vertical panel looks really good when finished with some modern detailing.  Not sure it works on double storey though, where you want some horizontal lines usually. 
As good a brochure as any for inspiration  http://www.weathertex.com.au/media/5...resolution.pdf

----------


## SilentButDeadly

> hard to believe there was a time where people actually paid to have that fake brick cladding installed

  Yes but what sort of people do that AND get a fake tile (pressed metal) roof AND install a half a ton of brown slate on the kitchen floor...straight over the floorboards of a timber stumped house? 
Then how daft do you have to be to actually buy the house? 
You tell me...because my answer won't be very realistic  :Blush7:    
Next time I do an exterior cladding I'd consider corro (still), one of the compressed cement sheet options, radially sawn timber weatherboards, recycled plastic sheeting, multiwall polycarbonate or Shadowclad (plywood).  Maybe all of them...in the same job?

----------


## Moondog55

Question to ask is it decorative or functional cladding or both?
I quite like the idea of flattened soft drink bottles as shingles except for the fire risk
I have always liked roofing iron as cladding

----------


## Moondog55

> hard to believe there was a time where people actually paid to have that fake brick cladding installed 
> I don't mind horizontal coro but it has to be a home in the country or some modernist inspired square box 
> I'm interested in this topic. Our lean-to on the back of our victorian has one wall clad poorly in blueboard and you can see part of this from the street and it looks cheap. One day i'll pull it down and reclad with boards that tie in with the rest of the house, like the other side

  Just clad over the blueboard
That fake brick cladding was functional tho, it did add R-value to the old uninsulated walls and worked to keep the sun off in summer, if it had been done with a double layer of RFL i think it would be worth keeping except that it is ugly

----------


## Cecile

> fake metal weatherboards ... they can't be bother with the painting.

  We considered the Colorbond weatherboard profile for the front of the house so it matches the "streetscape," such as it is.  We will be going with horizontal Colorbond in the front, and Zincalume everywhere else.

----------


## Oldsaltoz

A couple of years ago I was Waterproofing a new home, a modern version of the old homestead with a veranda on all sides. 
 The front wall was all Blue board and looked very out of place. I asked the builder what was planned for this wall and almost fell over when he said it was to be tiled. 
I was in the area a few moths later and decided to have a look. Much to my surprise it looked fantastic, 400 x 400 tiles with a very high gloss, white with tiny gaps between them making it look like one unbroken surface. almost no cuts in the tiles the designer had done a geed job. 
No idea what the final cost was but I suspect it was woth it. 
Good luck and fair winds.   :Smilie:

----------


## SilentButDeadly

> Just clad over the blueboard
> That fake brick cladding was functional tho, it did add R-value to the old uninsulated walls and worked to keep the sun off in summer, if it had been done with a double layer of RFL i think it would be worth keeping except that it is ugly

  Trust me, moondog...there was nothing functional about the fake brick. It has the r value of tissue paper, a tiny amount of thermal resistance and (in our case) was only barely weather tight. It is completely useless! 
But I might be a little biased. 
I've seen the tiling idea too. In the right place...it works.

----------


## Oldsaltoz

I have seen the fake brick used internally. In this case it was used to form an arch between the kitchen and dining room. 
Around 10 years old and looking great. No doubt due to the fact it never saw the sun or got rained on. Ha Ha.

----------


## phild01

Trying to get my head around tiling as a cladding.  Is it like the Opera House?

----------


## pharmaboy2

Tiling is often pretty upmarket as a cladding - they tend to use a rain screen type of construction with tiles through face fixed in commercial or glued straight to the substrate.  Good option in difficult to maintain facades because porcelain tiles can last for a looong time  
have a look at X lite panels and other thin porcelain panels

----------


## Moondog55

Were there different types of fake brick cladding?
I was thinking about those that are battened out and then clad over the existing WB
The ones they are ripping off around here are certainly weather tight as the painted weatherboards are visually perfect
It looks like most people are pulling them off around here because they contain asbestos
Summer R values are more important here and it is the air gap and ventilation that makes them effective

----------


## SilentButDeadly

> Were there different types of fake brick cladding?
> I was thinking about those that are battened out and then clad over the existing WB
> The ones they are ripping off around here are certainly weather tight as the painted weatherboards are visually perfect
> It looks like most people are pulling them off around here because they contain asbestos
> Summer R values are more important here and it is the air gap and ventilation that makes them effective

  Doubt it. Most of the difference was in the installations...as always. 
The weak points were around penetrations like windows and doors... 
We need summer R as well...and it was useless. The air gap doesn't work as it can't be exchanged. Even with battens in place over old fibro the air didn't move as there was no outflow...it just got hot. Really hot. 
House performs far far better now with a thin layer of tin over wall wrap and R2 batts than it did when walls had no batts, broken fibro sheeting, pine battens and baby poo brown fake brick cladding... 
Fake brick cladding...no redeeming features since forever.

----------


## bobthe builder

OK, so having bit the bullet and listened to my architect I have just built a townhouse with Colourbond cladding (looks great from a distance). However I have a major issue with the finishing. The junctions are all aluminium angles that have been cut with tinsnips and look like my 11 year old cut them with his left hand and one eye closed.
Does anyone have a solution? is there a proprietary product or do I just have to find a primary school teacher to teach the tradies to cut in straight lines???

----------


## OBBob

Hey, who allowed that user name??      :Smilie:

----------


## Snipper

I wonder why they would use aluminium angle and not custom folded colorbond flashings that are more practical for your job.?  Powder coated aluminium angle would be about 1.5 mm thick which requires a mitre saw to cut it neatly and is not really a plumbers forte. (Assuming plumber fitted but ????)  One way to polish that @@@@ would be using colour matched silicone on them but still would look rough but maybe better than now.  
Or get the butchers back to rip out the ugly pieces and replace with cleanly mitred aluminium or standard colorbond flashings.

----------


## bobthe builder

had it a long time...  :2thumbsup: 
you can always be Wendy

----------


## bobthe builder

Thanks Snipper, I have just told them to rip it all out and do it again but I'm surprised at the quality of finish. I always thought that this was a common cladding product.

----------


## OBBob

> had it a long time... 
> you can always be Wendy

  He he ... thanks.

----------

