External Render vs Cladding

The two build-ups side by side

The practical differences all follow from one thing: a bonded wet finish versus a fixed dry skin.

How the two approaches differ in practice. | External render | Cladding. How it is held on — Bonded to the wall — Mechanically fixed, held off the wall; Substrate condition — Must be sound; failures are cut out first — Covers the wall behind it; Added thickness — Millimetres to around 20mm — Battens plus board thickness; Detailing — Beads, bell-cast, stop-ends, weepvents — Junctions, trims, fixings, ventilation gap; Repairs — Repaired elevation by elevation — Individual boards can be replaced; Ongoing upkeep — Through-coloured silicone needs no repainting cycle — Depends entirely on the material chosen This company specifies and installs render systems. Cladding is described here for comparison, not offered, so no cladding prices are quoted.

What the wall itself is telling you

The decision usually resolves at the wall inspection. Every render job here begins with a hammer test for hollow existing render, and the result matters for both routes. Where large areas are hollow or the coat is actively cracking, the failed material has to come off and be repaired before a new render goes over it, and that remedial work should be visible as a line in the quote rather than hidden in a rate.

Cladding over the same wall does not remove the problem, it conceals it. That can be the right call where the substrate is genuinely stable and the objective is appearance. It is the wrong call where there is unresolved water getting in, because the wall then dries even more slowly with a skin over it and nobody can see what is happening.

Movement, cracking and mixed materials

A rigid, bonded coat cracks where the building moves — around openings, across the junction where an extension meets the original house, and over mixed substrates. A mesh-reinforced silicone system spreads that stress, which is why it is the usual specification on extensions and mixed-material walls.

Cladding sidesteps the problem differently: the fixings and joints absorb movement because the skin is not bonded to what moves. The trade-off is that every junction, trim and penetration becomes a detail that has to be executed correctly, and the number of those details is where a cheap cladding job comes apart.

Maintenance over twenty years

A silicone render is through-coloured and water-repellent, so rain beads and carries dirt off, algae is slower to establish and there is no repainting cycle. The published expectation on this site is 20–25 years before recoating, and the workmanship carries a 25-year guarantee.

Cladding maintenance depends wholly on the material. Some finishes want periodic treatment, some weather deliberately, some are effectively maintenance-free but expensive to source when a board needs replacing years later. That is a real advantage in one respect: a damaged cladding board can be swapped, where render is honestly repaired a full elevation at a time between natural break lines rather than patched mid-wall.

Hollow or cracked existing render — strip, repair, then re-render · Solid wall that must dry outwards — breathable silicone or silicone-silicate · Thermal performance is the objective — cork spray at £90–£140 per m², not a decorative skin · Conservation area or listed building — check with the local authority before ordering anything

Which is right for you

If the goal is a warm, breathable, low-maintenance elevation on a typical Kent house, render is what this company specifies and installs, and the reasoning is set out openly on the rendering page: silicone at £70–£110 per m² on north- and east-facing walls, silicone-silicate on solid-wall Victorian properties, acrylic at £55–£85 per m² only where budget leads and the elevation gets sun, and cork spray where insulation genuinely matters.

Cladding is not a worse product. On a stable wall where the look is the point, or on a contemporary elevation where a board finish is the design, it does a job that render does not. It is simply not the service offered here, and you should expect a specialist installer to detail it rather than a rendering crew.

If you are unsure which camp your wall falls into, the useful next step is the inspection rather than the quote. Once it is known whether the existing coat is sound, the choice usually makes itself.

Frequently asked questions

Is cladding cheaper than rendering?

It depends entirely on the cladding material and the number of junctions on the elevation, and no cladding rates are published on this site so none are quoted here. The rendering rates that are published run from £40–£60 per m² for painted sand and cement to £90–£140 per m² for cork spray.

Can you clad over failing render?

Physically often yes, sensibly usually no. Covering a hollow or cracked coat hides a wall that is already letting water in and makes the condition impossible to monitor. Establish what the substrate is doing first with an inspection and hammer test.

Does either need planning permission?

Cladding or insulating the exterior can require permission depending on the property and where it is, and it is restricted in conservation areas and on listed buildings. Check with the local authority before ordering materials.

Which lasts longer?

A correctly specified silicone render is expected to run 20–25 years before recoating. Cladding lifespan varies so widely by material that a single figure would be misleading, which is why none is given here.

Can render and cladding be mixed on one house?

Combining finishes across different parts of an elevation is common on contemporary designs. The critical points are the junctions between the two and the movement at those junctions, which is exactly where a mesh-reinforced base coat earns its place on the rendered sections.