James Hardie cladding installation in Bognor Regis, West Sussex

Many of us dream of living by the seaside. Perhaps you already do, in which case the topic of this blog might be familiar to you.

The salty sea air is healthy and invigorating for us humans, but it can be a nightmare for buildings.

Summit Cladding travelled to Bognor Regis on the West Sussex coast, to meet clients who moved there 20 years ago and were facing a losing battle against the elements.

They had spent a small fortune fighting salt corrosion, replacing fascias and gutters with PVC and constantly repainting the outside of the house with special durable paint.

Coastal cladding challenge

After my initial consultation with our clients, I approached James Hardie’s technical department to discuss the project and ask for any recommendations on how to tackle the unique demands of coastal cladding.

They concluded that James Hardie composite concrete cladding ticked every box guaranteed to beat coastal corrosion. But with one essential condition: all the fixings had to be made of high-quality stainless steel to avoid rust.

Furthermore, every corner trim and the stainless steel breathable starter track had to be anodised — that’s coated with a protective oxide layer by electrolysis — in order to fulfil the James Hardie guarantee.

Anti-corrosion fixings

Having established the conditions we would have to meet, Summit Cladding began by stripping off all the original PVC fascias, soffits and gutters. We replaced them with 18mm thick white fascias, complimented by white deep flow guttering and pipework. As required, every nail was marine grade to avoid corrosion.

Then we tackled the walls of the house by wrapping them in Tyvek, a breathable membrane that acts as a vapour barrier, before fixing the James Hardie Cladding on top. The colour – light mist – was specially chosen to reflect the coastal setting.

Although the five-week installation faced particular challenges, the appearance of the house has been transformed. And when those winter storms blow in from the sea, our clients will be assured that their home is now totally weather-proof.

Categorised in: James Hardie Cladding, Soffits & Fascias

This post was written by Summit Cladding