Latest Posts
March 8, 2017 6:13 am
Published by Summit Cladding
A recent insurance company survey revealed that one in ten DIY jobs are so badly botched that a professional builder has to come to the rescue. Luckily Summit Cladding’s latest job didn’t get to that stage because the householder was wise enough to come to us before the problem arose! Sylvia contacted us on behalf of her mum who’s lived in her terraced house in Edmonton, North London, for over 30 years. She explained that her mum was extremely proud of her home — except for the exterior. She was worried that a DIY canopy above the front door might fall off the wall and injure someone. Concrete gutter issues Also, there was concrete guttering above the front bay window,... View Article
February 27, 2017 6:31 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
World War Two may have ended more than 70 years ago, but its effects are still being felt in the sort of work that Summit Cladding carries out. How so? Well, although there was a house-building boom just after the war, there was still a shortage of steel. So much had been used to make ships, weapons, aircraft and ammunition that builders had to look to other materials. One of these materials was concrete and in this case, concrete guttering. So-called finlock gutters were frequently used in the construction of post-war houses – but they can be a bit of a headache. Concrete gutter problems Summit recently completed a job to remove finlock guttering for Julia and her partner, who... View Article
February 20, 2017 1:30 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Summit Cladding is always happy to offer householders free advice on exterior makeovers. From older period properties to modern standard designs, Summit can give your home the “wow factor!” Our client, Philomena, contacted us for advice on fitting a new front door canopy after the old one came off. Philomena had been searching for a company that specialises in front door canopies for some time and a friend of hers visited our showroom in Cattlegate Road, Crews Hill, Enfield. We arranged an appointment to offer a range of alternative designs that would compliment the age and style of her home. Cladding for symmetry Summit recommended an enclosed “V” canopy with James Hardy composite cladding to the centre of... View Article
February 14, 2017 5:55 am
Published by Summit Cladding
Now here’s a question: what do you do when your clients are not on speaking terms with their neighbours — but you need access next door to put up scaffolding? Answer: get the builders to play Cupid! This is a problem that Summit Cladding has faced in the past — and one that we had to face again in this latest job in a quiet cul-de-sac in Loughton, Essex. We were approached by Victor and June who asked us to carry out the same work on their house as we had previously installed on a neighbours’ property. But then we discovered that they were not on good terms with their neighbours and didn’t know whether they would allow us access... View Article
February 7, 2017 4:19 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Summit Cladding faced a double challenge to enhance the look of this 1960s detached house in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. Not only did we have to reach the highest point of the house, but we also had to remove and safely dispose of some asbestos. Summit were recommended to our client, David, after he’d seen the work we carried out for his brother-in-law in St Albans. Part of our task at David’s house was to replace the wooden barge boards. These are the large lengths of timber that follow the outline of the roof, shaped like an inverted letter “v.” As they are at the highest point of the house they are normally out of reach and difficult to maintain. When they... View Article
January 31, 2017 12:24 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
Avoid getting soaked! On these wet winter days the last thing you want is to get a soaking as you fumble for the keys to open your front door. The obvious answer – fit a canopy! David and Sally have been living in their mid-terrace cottage in Woodford, London E 18 for five years and every winter they’d been talking about creating a cover above the front door, to give it better weather protection and to enhance the look of the house. The only problem was a glass fanlight at the top of the door, allowing natural light into the hallway, which they didn’t want obstructed. Bespoke door canopy design Summit Cladding designs and fits bespoke door canopies and has... View Article
January 25, 2017 8:38 am
Published by Summit Cladding
Maintenance Free! If you are going to have cladding installed on the outside of your house, you will want it to be maintenance-free, won’t you? What you don’t want is old softwood boards that will start to rot within a few years! That’s a problem a lot of homeowners have faced, because builders tend to use cheaper softwood timber, instead of hardwood — and even builders using pvc sometimes don’t get it right. Summit cladding is a specialist roofline pvc fitting company and we recently completed an installation of maintenance-free roofline products for clients who live in a detached property in Barnet, North London. We were pleased to be recommended to our clients, who were going to have their windows... View Article
January 17, 2017 6:12 am
Published by Summit Cladding
James Hardie cladding Here was a challenge for Summit –- how to give a Victorian semi a major external makeover where space is tight. We were contacted by our clients, Terry and Jim, who live in Wood Green, North London. They were building a side extension to their house and looking at all the options that would give it the best look possible. Terry and Jim run a successful florist’s business with high standards, so they were precise about their requirements and expectations. A lot of the exterior rendering on their house was cracking and because of the height and awkward access to the property, they would be faced with a constant challenge to maintain the walls in good order.... View Article
January 10, 2017 5:10 pm
Published by Summit Cladding
We all know that first impressions count. So the importance of a “good look” to the front of your house can’t be overstated. Summit Cladding was recently contacted by former clients who we’d worked for in 2006. They had just finished a major refurbishment of their beautiful house in Willesden, North West London. The only job outstanding was to fit a Georgian style canopy to their front door. Our clients knew exactly what they wanted and even had a photograph of an example. But there was one big problem. The canopy they wanted was only available in one size and there simply wasn’t enough space at the front of the house because of two existing bay windows. The previous builder... View Article
January 6, 2017 6:12 am
Published by Summit Cladding
There’s nothing to beat a word-of-mouth recommendation! Summit was put in touch with this client by a neighbour who we had previously worked for in Loughton, Essex. The White family had lived in their 1970s townhouse for ten years and watched sadly as it began to show its age. All the paint on the original timber cladding was flaking off and exterior storage cupboards by the front were beyond repair. As with many houses from that period, the building itself was far less environmentally friendly than modern constructions. We visited our clients to carry out a full survey and recommended the removal of all the original timber, to be replaced by foam-filled shiplap cladding. This material is more energy... View Article
