Builders Question

[Kavi Ugl]

Hello to one and all.

 

I have a peerie personal question. Does anybody know of a building company in Shetland that "specialize" in re-cladding a harled/brick house with timber?. Has anybody had this done?.

 

Cheers,

 

[Hobbiniho]

i dont think you will find anyone who specialises in this in shetland, i have however worked on a house in whalsay where we clad the whole house with timber and replaced the fascia boards with plastic. i work for GA leask builders, you should give garry a phone on 01595840747 or 07836329662

[Kavi Ugl]

Thanks very much. Yeh, I've seen a couple of houses done but wondered who was doing it.

 

At least there's somebody who has done it(i.e has experience of it). I've never this service advertised though.

 

[Henry]

Peter Robertson (Builder) of Muckle Roe is doing this for a house near us right now.

[JohanofNess]

Just wondering but why do you want to cover the harling with timber?

[Kavi Ugl]

The idea has come from all the timber(clad) houses that have been built recently in Shetland. I have noticed a few traditional block and harl houses having either their outer harl removed then timber appled or in one case I remember the timber cladding was just added onto the outside of the harl.

 

I just feel it looks so much better and I intend to have the blocking of my house clad in timber.

 

[JohanofNess]

Fair enough, if it was sticking timber on instead of replacing harling I might have tried to talk you out of it but if it's an aesthetic thing then that's different.

[Far Haaf]

Adamson Bros, from Cunningsburgh, although they are closed now, used to do this kind of job. They did many of the houses at the north end of Voe, and what a difference it made to the appearance of the place.

Harling maybe looks good to begin with, but wood is better, in as much as you can paint it yourself when it gets weathered. Replacing harl involves hiring a professional, which costs.

[ianboy1]

Hunter & Morrison from Weisdale were doing re-cladding to some of the houses in Mossbank recently.

[Njugle]

Fair enough, if it was sticking timber on instead of replacing harling I might have tried to talk you out of it but if it's an aesthetic thing then that's different.

 

I've heard a recommendation to replace harl with timber for cost reasons and it seemed pretty plausible at the time ( a while ago).

 

Why would you talk someone out of it Johan, out of interest?

[Kavi Ugl]

Yes, for me it's just about the look(aesthetics) and I intend to paint it red.

 

My parents got their house re-harled a year or two ago and it cost £6000, and that didn't even include the surrounding walls

 

I'm not sure what it would cost to clad in timber compared to harl but I'd rather have the timber and paint/re-paint it in my colour of choice than bland and lifeless harl.

 

I also don't know the figures but even if I re-painted it, say, every 10 years at £1000 per time that *£6000* to re-harl is 60 years of life. And all in a colour of my choice, and IMHO I'll be doing my peerie bit to make Shetland look a little bit less grey and dour.

 

[JohanofNess]

You could put on render instead, does the same job as harling but you can paint it and its harder wearing than timber.

[EM]

Presumably, if done properly, cladding with timber will also improve the building's level of insulation. It would be interesting to hear what materials, fixings and procedures were used for the examples mentioned above, as well as what Building Control recommend.

 

I agree with Kavi Ugl that harled concrete is an abomination, but I don't mind the grey of real stone. I wonder if anyone has an idea how much it would cost to cover a house with a skin of traditional looking rubble masonry. There are so many skilled drystone builders in Shetland nowadays that it would certainly be technologically feasible, though probably quite pricey.

[Kavi Ugl]

You could put on render instead, does the same job as harling but you can paint it and its harder wearing than timber.

 

Hmm, nah, I like the timber clad style and feel that's part of the character whatever colour it's painted.

 

[JohanofNess]

Presumably, if done properly, cladding with timber will also improve the building's level of insulation.

 

Timber will improve the U value of the outer skin you just don't want the fixings of the timber to penetrate fully the outer skin or you could create cold bridges.