Which works best for weather proofing - render or cladding?

seashore22

We live at the top of a hill with some serious wind and rain hitting the rear of the house occasionally.  About 4 years ago we had a single story extension at the back of the house and rain sometimes comes in to the old exterior walls and runs down around the lintel area.  We think it is getting in through the walls and running down the cavity.

We would like to either clad or render the rear exterior walls to make them waterproof.  I prefer the look of render and my husband prefers cladding, but more importantly we need the best solution to the problem.  Any advice would be very helpful. 

tacpot12

To my mind, cladding is the best solution for weatherproofing (anything with an airgap between the surface that the weather hits and the structural walls will offer the best chance of keeping the rain out of your walls). You can clad your property using render carrier boards, that can then be rendered, so you can have the benefit of cladding with the appearance of render. 

seashore22

Thank you, that's very helpful.  I assume that means additional costs?  

alanobrien

Depending on how its done you can also insulate under cladding for not a lot of additional cost which may be worth thinking about energy costs being what they are today.

FreeBear

alanobrien said: Depending on how its done you can also insulate under cladding for not a lot of additional cost which may be worth thinking about energy costs being what they are today.

If you are cladding (or rendering) more than 25% of the exterior envelope, the Building Regulations would require insulation where technically feasible. But you do need to watch the detailing around the roof line and around windows - The external sills may well need replacing or extending, and any downpipes will also need to be moved.

Well worth insulating the walls if you can (currently doing some of the walls here internally).