News – July 2010
Investing in a quality
reclad in Westmere
Builder Latham Tobin felt like change when he built another home for his family in 1999.
WESTMERE –“We’d had two weatherboard houses and I thought this time it would be nice to try a plastered house,” Latham says. So he went ahead and built his new home in Auckland’s pricey Westmere, with a monolithic cladding, plaster over polystyrene, and no cavity system. The final inspection wasn’t done, so when Latham planned to sell the house last year and applied for sign-off from Auckland City Council, it was declined. Building standards had changed and Latham was up for a reclad.
“I decided on timber weatherboard,” Latham says. He has worked with various composite claddings in the past, but felt solid timber was the cladding that was most likely to last the distance.
“I hadn’t used timber weatherboards for years so asked around for a good brand, but no-one could give me a name. Then a PlaceMakers rep’ gave me a booklet on Jenkin A-lign. I liked the look of it, it was pre-primed, the board was guaranteed, and the baseboard system was bloody good.”
Latham did his apprenticeship in the 1960s, so knows the effort required to get timber weatherboards applied to a high standard. But Jenkin A-lign didn’t require a high level of skill to install, Latham says.
“You really don’t have to be too clever to put it up, it just fits together.”
He gave the pre-primed boards another sanding before installing, and says the overall finish and look is outstanding.
“I could have got something $3 a linear metre cheaper but with Jenkin A-lign I have a guarantee and a board that looks really good.”
Latham says the decision to spend a bit extra and go for quality is one he would recommend to anyone considering recladding.
“It worries me that we have thousands of houses needing recladding and once again people are trying to do things as cheaply as possible. Your house is your main asset and it is worth the extra expense to get it right.”
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