Devon house clad in Cedral

When Julia and her husband Peter moved into their stylish new home on the East Devon coast, they were delighted with its modern look and the fact it was just five minutes’ walk from the beach.

The house was a contemporary new build, but it quickly became obvious to the couple that all was not well. The exterior cladding had been badly fitted with inadequate fixings for the job.

“We get a lot of wind coming off the sea and because the Cedral Lap cladding was not properly fastened, the wind was getting underneath it and in places making it rattle,” explains Julia. “It was nothing to do with the cladding itself, it was way it had been put on.”

She got in touch with the experts at Cedral who did a full inspection and agreed that a registered Cedral Select installer should take all the cladding down and fix the poor frame fixings. Nathan Thomas has been a Cedral installer for over four years and works almost exclusively on installations for the brand, so he spotted the problem straight away.

“The boards had been installed with a nail gun, which should not have been used – the builders had also siliconed the boards together as a result of not using the correct overlap and using the incorrect fixings,” he says.

Nathan removed all the original cladding and refitted Cedral Click facades. Julia and Peter were delighted with the final result.

“It looks great, really amazing”, says Julia. “The quality of the cladding is excellent, and it is also noticeable that the new Cedral Click boards have improved the soundproofing and insulation on our property. I can’t imagine that you could get better.”

Nathan is also impressed with the quality offered by Cedral products and adds: “Cedral Click is secured to timbers with a unique stainless-steel bracket and screw which I feel rises above any competitive weatherboard, I don’t use the others because Cedral has never let me down. The colour range they offer is another big plus.”

“I like the colour, it’s brilliant,” says Julia. “I would absolutely recommend Cedral. We’ve seen houses with other types of cladding which don’t look anything as good as ours quality wise.”

Installing its cladding correctly is so important to Cedral that it backs approved installations with a 10-year product guarantee. “They know that if its products are installed correctly, with the right ventilation, expansion and fixings, they will last,” says Nathan.

Nathan is also very happy with the benefits that being a Cedral Select installer offers. This online platform puts homeowners in touch with certified installers across the UK, and over 45 cladding contractors are now signed up to the scheme.

“I don't pay to be Cedral approved but it helps me find work; now customers come to me rather than the other way around. Working closely with Cedral has been our biggest achievement as a small company and kept us busy for several years now.”