Most home improvement projects tackle one problem. A new roof deals with water. Replacement windows reduce drafts. Insulated cladding tackles the issue in a different way entirely, it goes at the overall building envelope with a giant roll of continuous thermal wrapping, rather than trying to fix leaks and weak points one by one. That’s why it’s useful to know what your home should be wearing before you go to the expense of jumping on a specific solution.
The Thermal Bridging Problem That Cavity Insulation Misses
The cladding covers the entire face of the building. Instead of trying to work with the frame around all the supports and fixings, losing performance wherever you have to interrupt the insulation to cut it, the insulation is the whole face, uninterrupted. And rather than fitting between the studs and noggins that are conducting all the heat through the wall, across your current insulation and the half-inch gap between the plasterboard and the studs, the solution isolates the entire metal frame of the existing building from the furnishing and occupancy space on the inside, and the weather and temperature on the outside.
Why uPVC Has Replaced Timber as the Sensible Choice
Traditional timber cladding looks nice. But, every few years it needs repainting, needs to be sealed against moisture, and must be inspected for rot. All of this takes time and money. uPVC cladding doesn’t rot. It doesn’t fade in the same way. It doesn’t need painting. It’s an inherently weatherproof material that can handle the worst the climate can throw at it. UV exposure, wind-driven rain, uPVC stands up to the elements and just keeps looking good.
For homeowners who are going to be owners and occupiers for many years to come, Formplex have developed cladding products that are purpose-built for Australian conditions. Our high UV intensity, extreme temperature variation climate puts real demands on any material used externally on your home and uPVC has been designed to cope. The low maintenance profile of uPVC is part of the ROI calculation that often gets overlooked, but the lack of annual maintenance costs is every bit as important as the energy savings this decade.
The Financial Case For Treating This as an Investment
Heating and cooling make up about 40% of your typical household energy use (Australian Government’s YourHome guide). That’s pretty substantial. When your building bleeds heat in the winter and soaks it up in the summer, your heating and cooling system has to make up the difference. Less thermal resistance equals longer run times, more on-off cycling, and a higher bill come month-end.
How the cost offset works is simple. Cladding lightens the load on your heating and cooling system, which lowers operating costs. Those savings over five to ten years add up. The upfront cost doesn’t disappear, but it goes from being a minus to a plus. And if we’re talking about an existing building, particularly an older one, this logic only gets more compelling, because the base case waste is typically worse, the cost offset is even greater.
Moisture Management and Acoustic Performance
Moisture is often a primary concern when people consider cladding for an existing wall. Should the new surface seal in condensation, you’ve simply traded one issue for another, and one costly repair for another? Professional cladding systems are designed with vapor management in mind. The underlying principle is that your wall can breathe and any moisture that finds its way inside the cladding will egress, whenever conditions allow that moisture to escape.
Suitably vented, the cladding will likely provide better protection for the original wall than it was ever afforded. And upon new installation, the render or brick facing to be covered should be power-washed and sealed (and sometimes even re-pointed with fresh mortar). Reclaimed brick and render degrade effortlessly over a long span when they are exposed to wet, ultra-violet light, wind-blown grit, and regular freeze/thaw cycles. A good covering of cladding boards could inadvertently form a renovation for the existing wall, offering it far greater protection than it ever enjoyed standing alone.
Curb Appeal Isn’t a Minor Consideration
It might be easier to consider all those structural benefits of cladding to be in an entirely separate box to aesthetics, but good looks are often a part of the equation when it comes to what insulation and weatherproofing package you choose. An upgrade to the energy efficiency of your home that includes a facelift is a lot easier to justify in broader financial terms, too. A home with a tired, dirty and unsightly exterior is going to be valued and priced differently to an identical neighbour with a pristine, freshly painted façade. One of the simplest mechanisms of insulating cladding is that it does both jobs at the same time, structural improvement delivered with a visible result.
Ceilings, draughts, and new controls for the heating/cooling system also tick the right boxes but don’t change your home’s appearance or value on the street. That’s why insulated cladding is such a solid choice, particularly in a world where housing decisions made today will have a significant effect on the future energy requirements and emissions of our towns and cities.