Metal clad extension

Tim11111000111

I'm looking at buying a house. One thing that is putting me off is that the current owner had an extension done, and it is clad in what I consider to be a fairly hideous corrugated metal (see photos). In Scotland, so we have seen a Home Report already which describes it as "The wall construction to the extension cannot be confirmed. The extension is clad externally with a corrugated metal material, and the walls appear to be below 250mm thick."

Anyone have experience of this? My main question is how easy would it be to remove the cladding and replace it with something more aesthetically appealing? As a last resort we could just paint it to make it slightly more attractive - unless that is a big no-no for some reason?

FreeBear

You're right - That is one ugly extension. Would have been alright in an industrial setting, but not residential.

Replacing the cladding with something easier on the eye shouldn't be too difficult - I'm assuming there is some form of studwork underneath. The walls being less than 250mm thick would suggest a wood frame construction (SIPs ?). Stripping off the cladding would give you a chance to confirm this.

Any information available from the local council planning portal ?

Tim11111000111

FreeBear said:

You're right - That is one ugly extension. Would have been alright in an industrial setting, but not residential.

Replacing the cladding with something easier on the eye shouldn't be too difficult - I'm assuming there is some form of studwork underneath. The walls being less than 250mm thick would suggest a wood frame construction (SIPs ?). Stripping off the cladding would give you a chance to confirm this.

Any information available from the local council planning portal ?

I've found the planning application/building warrant on the local planning portal but can't find any details beyond it was approved and a Certificate of Design was issued. It was done in 2015 so I guess the more detailed supporting docs are no longer available.

EssexExile

FreeBear said:

You're right - That is one ugly extension. Would have been alright in an industrial setting, but not residential.

Replacing the cladding with something easier on the eye shouldn't be too difficult - I'm assuming there is some form of studwork underneath. The walls being less than 250mm thick would suggest a wood frame construction (SIPs ?). Stripping off the cladding would give you a chance to confirm this.

Any information available from the local council planning portal ?

Or the owner? I'd like to know what's under than modern version of corrugated iron.

greyteam1959

How on earth did they ever get permission for that monstrosity !

grumbler

I think another layer of nicer cladding can be added on the top of the existing one.

scottishblondie

Tim11111000111 said:

FreeBear said:

You're right - That is one ugly extension. Would have been alright in an industrial setting, but not residential.

Replacing the cladding with something easier on the eye shouldn't be too difficult - I'm assuming there is some form of studwork underneath. The walls being less than 250mm thick would suggest a wood frame construction (SIPs ?). Stripping off the cladding would give you a chance to confirm this.

Any information available from the local council planning portal ?

I've found the planning application/building warrant on the local planning portal but can't find any details beyond it was approved and a Certificate of Design was issued. It was done in 2015 so I guess the more detailed supporting docs are no longer available.

I believe you need to pay the council to get the more detailed documents.  For the extension on our house we were told it was about £100 to get the building warrant application documents.  We didn't go ahead in the end, so I don't know exactly what you would get.

Also, yes, that is pretty hideous.  I expect it could be replaced or another layer of something more attractive added over the top.

pmartin86

If it was me, I would assume a rebuild of the entire structure as part of my personal valuation of the house. If you assume that there is a brick wall, its going to be single skin, or its a cheap timber frame with the cheapest cladding they could manage. I'd run a mile.

sevenhills

Metal framed extensions such as the OPs are very common where I live, although they do not generally have a metal covering, more often wood.

There are four with a two-minute walk from where I live.

Doozergirl

pmartin86 said:

If it was me, I would assume a rebuild of the entire structure as part of my personal valuation of the house. If you assume that there is a brick wall, its going to be single skin, or its a cheap timber frame with the cheapest cladding they could manage. I'd run a mile.

I'd assume that you have no experience of the last 15-20 years of building technology.  

My house has less than 250mm walls and it wasn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination.  The future doesn't sit with cavity wall construction and it should have moved on already.  

The extension has been signed off, so it's fairly safe to assume that it will be of a recognised standard.   The thing with modern builds is that the outer skin is decorative and interchangeable.  It's almost
like a phone cover. 

Doozergirl

sevenhills said:

Metal framed extensions such as the OPs are very common where I live, although they do not generally have a metal covering, more often wood.

There are four with a two-minute walk from where I live.

There's no evidence that it is metal framed, we can only see what it is clad with. 

The vendor must know what it is.