Weatherside cladding

[liznz]

Hey there team,

We need some help... we're first homers and we've put an offer on a house on Auckland's North Shore which has been accepted, however the builders report has come back today saying that the cladding is made of Weatherside weatherboards, which is a dodgy material from back in the late 70s/early 80s. In saying that, the cladding is in good order, some of the boards have been replaced already with something else, and there's no rot - HOWEVER the inspector says that some of the paint is getting thin (the paint being the thing that keeps the moisture out!)
We're not sure what to do now in regards to replying to the vendor - would you change your original offer to compensate for the upkeep of the boards, or would you just steer away from it altogether? Or, would you just do nothing and move in, and just get the boards painted every so often? I'm not too happy with this last option! HELP! Thanks a bunch!

[Marej]

Get some quotes to reclad, and request reduction of price by the same or negotiate with that as a basis.

[Re@der]

If painting is the only issue this does not appear to be a major. Most houses need painting at some time

[Maccachic]

Provided the paint hasnt failed already.

[Fuzz]

Weatherside cladding.

Hi Liznz,
I've had 2 houses clad in weatherside, the first had a 70% failure, it was bubbling. The second house the weatherside was stuffed, like wheatbix. In both instances the owners had failed to maintain the paint work. Knocked my price down, fortunately both were desperate sellers. Both houses I bit the bullet and reclad with hardiplank. This is what is normally used to replace damaged weatherside boards. One
way to test if it is ok is get a small pocket knife blade and push up from the lower edge of the board. If it goes in easy the bottom of the board is on its way out. If you feel resistance its OK. If your building inspector has done his job right he should have tested in this manner.
If you keep a good coat of paint on the cladding it'll be fine - use premium grade paint, not the cheap inhouse crap you can get. All premium grade paints will last you more than 10 years with regular wash down. If you go for a reclad, you'll still to paint.

As Marej has suggested get a quote for a reclad, try and knock the price down. Nobody says you have to actually reclad, you could get enough off to either reclad or pay for a painter.

You could always say too hard, forget it and move on.

[liznz]

Great, thanks so much for your advice everybody! We've gone back and adjusted the asking price, wish us luck!