Cladding your home can add beauty and value and give you a sense of pride in ownership that is incomparable to any other home improvement or renovation project you undertake. Whichever cladding material you choose, the biggest factor in deciding to clad your home is cost. The average cost of cladding has gone up in the past decade and many homeowners want to know just how much it will cost before they make the decision to add new cladding to their home.

Cladding your home - Image supplied by Lewis Visuals

Average Cost of Cladding a House Factors

The average cost of cladding depends largely on the material you choose and the size of your home in square metre’s. Brick is the most common choice for many homeowners, with render, timber boarding, stone and tile hanging as the other alternatives. Stone is usually considered the most expensive option and required in the stone-belt areas of the UK.

Let’s Look at The Average Cost of Cladding a House

The factors that go into creating an average cost of cladding a house can vary, just as the materials can. Other factors include labour, additional materials and any decorative treatments. But what are the real differences in costs? Let’s take a look at the numbers:

Bricks: £56/m2

Bricks come in a wide range of stock and that can make the price of brick cladding change dramatically. Prices can range from £350 per 1,000 bricks, to £800/1,000 with the average cost around £450/1,000. There are 60 bricks per square metre. Factor in labour and the costs will look like this:

• Bricks @ £450/1,000    £27.00
• Mortar per m²    £2.50
• Labour @ £450/1,000 £27.00
• Average cost per m² £56.50

Rendered Blockwork: £59/m2

Rendered blockwork is a less expensive alternative that many homeowners choose. What they don’t realise is that there are hidden costs that factor in making rendered blockwork more expensive than brick. This can include the addition of a waterproofing agent, pebble or stone dashing or decoration of a smooth rendered wall. There are 10 blocks per square metre. Factor in labour and the costs will look like this:

• Blocks (aircrete 450x215x100mm)        £8
• Mortar        £1.00
• Labour @ £12.50/m²   £12.50
• Labour and materials for two coats render £25.00
• Decoration — labour and materials    £12.50
• Average cost per m² £59.30

Tile Hanging: £66-£80/m2

Tiles are much more expensive and are usually hung on an external blockwork skin. This shares much of the costs of a blockwork and rendered wall bringing average cost to £21.80/m2. Average tile hanging costs can range from £66.80 up to £101.80.

Timber Cladding: £50/m2

 Timber cladding features softwood featheredge boarding that can add £15.74/m2 to the cost of the blockwork. This has to be decorated which will add even more bringing the total cost to an average of £49.54/m2. More expensive Siberian larch and western red cedar are popular and don’t require additional decoration as they will weather to a silver tone. With an average labour and materials cost of around £27.89, combined with the blockwork costs becomes £49.69/m2.

Article written by Lewis Visuals