Recladding on the Kapiti Coast

Why Kapiti Houses Get Recladded

A lot of houses built on the Kapiti Coast between the early 1990s and the mid 2000s were clad in monolithic plaster systems fixed straight onto the framing with no drainage cavity behind them, often over untreated timber. Where water got in - at a window, a deck junction, a parapet, a penetration - it had nowhere to go, and the framing rotted quietly for years. Add a coastal climate with wind-driven rain from the west and salt in the air, and the coast has more than its share of homes that leak. Older weatherboard houses reach the same point by a slower road: boards that have split, paint that no longer holds, and rot at the bottom plates and window sills.

The Building Code requires that external walls and openings prevent moisture from causing dampness or damage - the requirement is set out in clause E2 External moisture - and a house that no longer does that cannot be fixed with paint. It needs the cladding off, the framing dealt with, and a cladding system that drains. That is a reclad, and it is one of the three things JMC Builders does.

What a Reclad With JMC Involves

1. Assessment and a quote

   Jamie looks at the house inside and out: moisture readings where they can be taken, the junctions and penetrations, the deck and parapet details, the roof-to-wall flashings, and any rot that is already visible. From that, a quote for the reclad, with a clear statement of what has been allowed for in framing repairs and how anything beyond it will be priced.

2. Design, engineering and building consent

   A full reclad is restricted building work and needs a building consent from Kapiti Coast District Council or Horowhenua District Council. Where the new cladding changes the look of the house, or a leaky-home claim or a resource consent is involved, JMC works with the designer, the engineer and the council so the paperwork is done before the scaffold goes up.

3. Scaffold, strip and inspection

   Scaffold on every wall, the old cladding stripped off, and the framing exposed for the first honest look at what is behind it. This is the moment the job is really priced, and you are shown what was found.

4. Framing repairs and treatment

   Rotten studs, plates, lintels and sills cut out and replaced, the remaining timber treated, and the structure checked and, where the engineer requires it, strengthened. On one of the houses in our photographs the leaks had done enough damage that a large part of a two-storey home had to be taken down and rebuilt.

5. Underlay, cavity and the new cladding

   A rigid air barrier or wall underlay, then cavity battens so that any water that gets behind the new cladding drains out at the bottom, then the cladding itself: bevel-back or rusticated weatherboard, cedar, vertical board and batten, a modern plaster system on a cavity, or a combination. New flashings at every window and door, and new joinery where the old units are refitted or replaced.

6. Painting, inspections and sign-off

   Council inspections at the stages the consent requires, the painters through, the final inspection and the code compliance certificate - the document that matters most when the house is next sold.

Choosing the New Cladding

A reclad is also the one chance a house gets to change its face. Most owners of a plaster clad house on the coast take the opportunity to move to cedar, Abodo, Nu Wall, ply and the like, partly for the look and partly because a cavity-fixed board system is easy to inspect and maintain; others keep a plaster look on a modern cavity system. Jamie will talk you through the options on the first visit, with the costs of each, and can put you in touch with a designer if the house is going to change enough to need drawings for the council. The choice also affects the joinery: aluminium windows can often be refitted with new flashings, but where they were part of the problem, replacing them while the walls are open is the sensible time.

What Affects the Cost and the Time

The size of the house, the number of storeys and the cladding you choose set the base price; what sets the final price is the framing. A house with a few wet corners is a different job from one that has been leaking for fifteen years, and nobody can see all of it until the cladding is off. The quote therefore states an allowance for framing repairs and how anything beyond it is charged, so there are no surprises about how surprises are handled. A full reclad of a single-storey house usually takes two to three months on site; a two-storey house or one with significant rebuilding, longer. If the inside of the house is due a change as well, our renovations and extensions page covers doing both at once, which shares the scaffold, the consent and the trades. And if the damage turns out to be beyond saving, a new build on the same section is the honest alternative, and Jamie will say so. Have a look at our work to see the standard the job will be finished to.

Contact Us

To talk about recladding a house in Pukerua Bay, Paekakariki, Raumati, Paraparaumu, Waikanae, Peka Peka, Te Horo, Otaki or Levin, ring Jamie on 021 052 4447 or send the details through the form below. The year the house was built and a few phone photos of the outside, particularly around the windows and any decks, will get you a much more useful first conversation.