When it comes time to upgrade your home’s exterior it can be difficult to work out where to start and what to choose. A lot of decisions are needed so to lighten your load here are some tips on materials, cladding services, colours and more to help you with your project.

Let’s get creative!

Mixing It Up

Architects and homeowners have started having more fun with external materials which is creating some inspiring exteriors. Using a mix of materials is increasing in popularity because, when done correctly, it creates award-winning fascinating exteriors. No more dull, cut & paste rows of homes.

What Cladding Options Are There?

A cladding that creates a pattern of horizontal lines will visually lengthen (or stretch) the shape of your home. If your concern is that your home is too monolithic (a 70’s hangover) then using different materials on the ground floor to the first floor will decrease its size and the abovementioned horizontal lines will further decrease its size. Horizontal cladding is also well-suited for Cape Cod-style homes.

Vertical lines created by cladding suit contemporary homes and this also helps give more height to your home. It also suits ranch-style and barn-style homes.

Using Aluminum Cladding

Aluminium cladding has grown swiftly in popularity as architects have shown homeowners the impressive results that can be achieved with it.

A fully alumimium-clad, double-storey structure might be too dominant so combining it with a warmer material can add interest and avoid a monolithic appearance.

Colour Choices

When you have your shortlist of colours, buy sample tins of them and paint 2 m x 1 m swatches on your existing structure then look at those swatches at different times of the day.

Prepare With Research

Take your time to research the different contractors and suppliers that you want to use on your project. Don’t only read testimonials, make contact with the clients. Meet with the contractors and ask questions to get a feel for their values.

Make Decisions & Stick To Them

If you are indecisive then progress might halt as the contractors await decisions. It can add months to a project or if an instruction or description is vague, it can result in misunderstandings. A builder has hundreds of steps that are needed for the completion of each task, and dozens of tasks to complete each step of your building.

The delay or miscommunication on one of the steps has a knock-on effect on all subsequent steps and tasks, vertically and laterally, so your most important role in a project is to make decisions in advance or quickly and avoid scope creep.

Lastly, be open to negotiation and compromise as each renovation is a prototype and prototyping is not an exact science.

Call Central Auckland’s leading recladding services specialists now!