Wood cladding on face of house

SavingSteve

I've looked at a few house on RightMove, and I really despise the look of houses with this wooden cladding on the front. This an example of the type of cladding I am taking about, look at the first floor outer wall on this property; http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-20831623.html

So my question – what is the official name for this kind of facia?

Secondly – can I remove it? Would I need planning permission to change the look of the house? What will the bricks be like underneath?, will they be in any decent state, or would I need to then plaster & paint over the bricks (which I would prefer to this wooden look).

Just don’t want to rule houses out on the basis of this facia if it can be changed easily to something I’d like.

(PS – this particular house is not one I am interested in, I am just using it as an example!)

anotherpaul_2

SavingSteve wrote: »

I've looked at a few house on RightMove, and I really despise the look of houses with this wooden cladding on the front. This an example of the type of cladding I am taking about, look at the first floor outer wall on this property; http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-20831623.html

My parents house had something like that. Their's was vertical and red brown - I quite liked it, but it's a pain to maintain. :-)

SavingSteve wrote: »

So my question – what is the official name for this kind of facia?

No idea... (eta: Cladding, I think - as you said)

SavingSteve wrote: »

Secondly – can I remove it? Would I need planning permission to change the look of the house? What will the bricks be like underneath?, will they be in any decent state, or would I need to then plaster & paint over the bricks (which I would prefer to this wooden look).

You can remove it. Double glazing companies will replace it if with plastic, though that might not help if you don't like that either (that's what my parents did). It's almost certainly blue-grey breeze-blocks undernear (but worth looking, if you can see without removing them). I suspect they're cheap and quicker to errect that small red bricks. You'd need to put something on them - probably at least some kind of mortar cladding.

I don't THINK you need planning permission (unless there's a particular restiction on the area).

planning_officer

It looks like horizontal timber weatherboarding - you need planning permission in a conservation area, AONB or National Park to put it up, but you may not need permission to take it down - only if you're just revealing what's underneath though. If you have to replace it with brick, hanging tiles, etc, then you will need permission in one of those areas.

Davesnave

Errr....the house you have used as an example has its fascia tiled! You can see this if you look at the full brochure and expand the pictures.

maninthestreet

Yes, it's tiled. I believe those tiles are just nailed to horizontal wood battens attached to the outer brickwork of the house, so could be removed relatively easily.

Davesnave

maninthestreet wrote: »

Yes, it's tiled. I believe those tiles are just nailed to horizontal wood battens attached to the outer brickwork of the house, so could be removed relatively easily.

Yes, what I was getting at though was what could they be replaced with, if the OP doesn't like wood or (presumably) tiles? Once removed, the unrelieved brick face of the house might not be that attractive if it's not been designed that way. I suppose upvc is another option.

Changing the exterior can make a real difference, if it's done sensitively. The random 'personalisation' of properties can be a disaster too. I have in mind some not-too-special 70s houses in Swindon, where everyone obviously disliked the original panels, so each replaced them with a different material, from stick-a-bricks to rustic boards, and everything in between. Hideous!

SavingSteve

Hi all, thanks for your replies, never thought they would be tiles!?

Just so you know, right now my 'monitoring' of the property market is limited mainly to RM yet, not done any viewings as won't be in a position to buy until the summer, hence why I hadn't realised it was tiles and not wood!

Anyway, I suppose this is my plan, to take a house with wood/tiles cladded on the wall, like this; www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-21006349.html

And rip them off and render the 1st floor, so it looks like this; www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-11063244.html

(Obv diff types of houses, but hope you can see what the end product is proposed to be).

None of the areas I'm looking at are conservation, AONB or National Park.

I suppose what I want to do is be able to call the council and ask the question, but I really don't know what to call this type of facia!

Think I'll go with "timber and/or tiled cladding" and see if they understand what I mean!

Davesnave

You should be fine doing that. I'd completely forgotten rendering, and I only sold my rendered house a month ago!

Debt_Free_Chick

Just curious but why bother?

Would you be adding value?

If not, why not just buy the style you want in the first place?

Am I missing something ....?

SavingSteve

There are lots of houses around here, where everything else is perfect, great school catchments, great interior, great sized plots, and great price, BUT they have this one flaw of the cladding.

So yes you are missing something, I'd rather spend a few thousand on getting the cladding removed than spend tens of thousands on another place.

And it would be a home for me, so the look is important, not the adding of value. I suppose you could say it would add additional pride in my home, but not neccesarily monetary value. As I said in my initial post:

SavingSteve wrote: »

Just don’t want to rule houses out on the basis of this facia if it can be changed easily to something I’d like.

Doozergirl

There was a brick shortage in the era this style of house was built which is why houses were often clad with tiles or wood. It will be breeze block underneath and yes it should be fairly easy to change it to render but I'd bear in mind that you'll be looking more at your neighbours houses than the outside of your own so if you really hate it, you won't get away from it.

Looking different also makes it stick out.