How Long Does a Reclad Take? Stage by Stage, and What Living at Home Is Like

The scaffold goes up first, but the real timeline only becomes clear once the old cladding comes off. Until then, nobody can say for certain how long the job will run, so any estimate starts as a range.

How long a reclad takes

A straightforward single-storey house usually takes several weeks of building once the scaffold is up, and a larger or two-storey house a few months. Those are rough guides rather than promises. The figure that counts is the one in a written programme (the schedule of stages and dates) for your own house.

Design and consent come first, and they sit outside that timing. They run on the designer's and the Council's timetable, not the builder's. The range is wide for one reason. The size of the house and the type of cladding can be judged from the outside, but the condition of the framing can't. That's also why a reclad price comes as a range. Our guide to how we quote a reclad explains how both the price and the programme firm up.

What happens before anyone picks up a tool

A reclad starts on paper. A weathertightness design is prepared for the house, and a building consent application goes to the Council. Auckland Council sets out what it expects on its re-clad your home web page. While the application is being processed, the house itself is left alone. If the Council asks questions, the processing clock can pause until they're answered.

This is also when materials are ordered. Delivery times for some products can be long, and it's easier to wait on a delivery at this stage than with the walls open. Our guide to reclad building consent in Auckland covers what the Council asks for.

The build, stage by stage

Reclads follow much the same order from house to house.

1. Scaffold and wrap. The house is scaffolded and covered in a temporary waterproof wrap, which protects the walls from the weather while they're open.
2. The old cladding comes off. It's taken off section by section, and the framing behind it is exposed for the first time.
3. Framing is checked and repaired. Damaged timber is cut out and replaced. This is the stage that decides how long the job takes, because the amount of damage isn't known until the wall is open.
4. The new cladding goes on. It's built up from the framing outwards, following the weathertightness details from the design, and windows and doors are refitted or replaced where the design calls for it.
5. Council inspections. At several points through the job, the Council inspects work that will later be covered up, so on some days the job waits on an inspection.
6. Finishing and sign-off. The final coatings go on, the scaffold comes down, and the job ends with a Code Compliance Certificate.

Our guide to the complete recladding process walks through the same stages from the first assessment to the certificate.

What makes it take longer

A few things can stretch a timeline, and some of them can't be known in advance.

• What's behind the cladding. More damaged framing means more repair. Auckland Council's guide says the extent of any decay isn't known until the timber is exposed.
• Weather. Heavy rain and strong wind stop outside work while they last.
• Size and complexity. A house with many corners, windows and joins takes longer than a plain rectangle of the same area.
• Added work. Anything added once the walls are open, such as new windows, deck changes or an extension, lengthens the job.
• Inspections and deliveries. The work can't move past a stage until it's inspected, and a late delivery holds up the stage that needs it.

Living at home through it

A reclad is noisy from the first day. Scaffold goes up around the house, tools run through the day, and dust gets everywhere. Workers are around the property daily, and some rooms get less light and less privacy for the duration. On most jobs, each side of the house is closed in before the next is opened, so the house keeps its weather protection as the work moves round it.

Households that stay at home usually have a quiet room on the far side of the house from the work, are out for much of the day, and have no interior work happening at the same time.

Households that move out, for the whole job or just the loudest stretch, tend to be in one of these situations. Someone works from home, studies or needs quiet to rest. There's a baby, pets or someone in the house who finds the noise and dust a real problem. Or the whole house is being stripped at once, or interior renovation is happening alongside.

Either way, it's a decision for each household, and the written programme shows which weeks are the loudest. If you're weighing a reclad against a rebuild, our guide to reclad or demolish and rebuild covers how living arrangements compare.

Getting ready

Start outside. Pots, furniture and anything stored against the walls will need to move, and plants along the walls will need cutting back. Inside, take shelves, pictures and anything fragile off the outside walls.

Plan for trucks, deliveries and parking, because the crew needs access and so do the vehicles bringing the scaffold and materials. Tell your neighbours, since the noise and the scaffold affect them too. And ask for a written programme that lists the stages and says what happens if the weather, or what turns up in the framing, changes the dates.

Questions people ask

Does the house stay weathertight during a reclad? That's the aim of doing the work in stages. The wrap covers open walls, and on most jobs each side is closed in before the next is opened.

Can the timeline be fixed upfront? A programme sets out the planned stages and durations, but any programme can move once the framing is exposed. Treat the early figures as a range that narrows as the house is investigated and the design firms up. A report helps here, and our guide to weathertightness reports explains what one covers.

Does a partial reclad take less time? Usually, because fewer walls are opened. The same stages apply to each wall that's done. Our guide to partial or full reclad covers what decides it.

How long does it take before the work even starts? It depends on the design and on the Council's timetable, which is why the on-site timing above leaves it out.

Want to know what a reclad might mean for your own house? Send us three photos for a free visual inspection: one of a window corner, one of the wall below a sill, and one where the deck or balcony meets the wall. Text them to 021 701 664 or email info@adronconstruction.co.nz, and we'll write back with a straight read on what we see and what it might mean for the job ahead. It's a visual read only, so there's no site visit and no charge.

For the whole process, see our complete recladding guide, or read about how we approach residential recladding in Auckland. For what it costs, see our reclad cost guide.