Weatherboard cladding over brick veneer home

[Dons-Glenno]

A comprehensive renovation including weatherboard cladding, window replacement and new roof.

• The project
• Steps
• Tools and materials
• Before and after
• More inspiration for your home

The project

Our humble orange brick veneer home (that in its day was one of the original potato farms in the area) has been transformed into a beautiful country abode that we so love.

A massive renovation included the relocation of the front door, removing, updating and replacing the very dated corner windows, and covering the old bricks with James Hardie Linea Weatherboards. This added a beautiful secondhand red brick entrance feature complimenting the stunning custom-made messmate front door.

We did this all on our own and are super proud of the result. The new roof (we did not do ourselves) is the cherry on top.  

Steps

Step 1

Where to start? Removing the window to the right of the house (original dining room) was our first part to the demo (after I happily pulled down the horrid sheer curtains). We removed the corner window and reframed ready for the new one. This area inside has become our laundry (still to come).

Once we reframed, we placed blue board on the walls, flush with the existing bricks which we later added the batons to.

The front window is a solid window with a smaller awning window which has been put in on the side. We live on a dirt road so all front facing windows are solid (to keep the dust out).

Window has gone, framing on the side has gone upmeasure, measure and measure againwindow has gone inBlueboard is up

Step 2

The loungeroom window was the next to go. It took a while to talk hubby into getting rid of the corner windows, but I think it well and truly paid off.

Bye Bye to the loungeroom windowNew loungeroom window

Step 3

Third and final window gone and replaced. Remember nothing is ever really straight in an old home so it took a bit to get this window in. Hubby, of course, framed it all to the millimetre, but unfortunately it didn't fit the first time so a few adjustments needed to be made.

Step 4

Excuse the photo, but this was the existing door. It made sense to relocate it, as it removed the foot traffic away from the bedrooms and through the hallway to a new smaller hallway (that we made) which opens up to our open plan kitchen/living space. Using a demo saw we removed the bricks to allow for the new front door.

Time to move the front doorSo much rubble!relocating the door to here

Step 5

Time for the batons. We used hardwood 50mm x 25mm screwed to the bricks with masonry screws.

Step 6

Once the batons were up and methodically placed 450mm apart we started boarding using James Hardie Linea Weatherboards. To help with getting these on straight and held in place while we screwed them on to the batons, we bought a handy little tool called CladMate Pro and used a countersink drill bit and treated Pine screws to attach the boards to the batons.

Step 7

We decided to incorporate a special feature wall at our entrance made from secondhand brick tiles (part bricks). We stuck them to the wall with tile adhesive and filled them in with a white mortar and sand mix. 

Tiling the feature wall with the secondhand red brick tilesFilled the bricks with mortar and sand mix

Step 8

Once all the boards were on, we gap filled where needed with silicone sealant. We wanted the windows to stand out and framing them does this beautifully. We used Woodhouse weatherproof timber for this purpose.

Then it was time for prepping and painting. Choosing the colour was such a tough decision, but we finally settled on Vivid White for the window and door frames, and for the house, drum roll... Vellum Smoke. It has a slight hint of green which compliments the Woodland grey windows and roof.

We chose Vivid White for around the windows and door and Vellum Smoke for the house which is the colour around the small window

Step 9

Among all of this, we also had a new roof put on in Colorbond Woodland Grey. We did not do this part of the reno ourselves but to save on costs we did do all the labour relating to the clean-up.

Moving all of the roof tiles and stacking the timber was tough work. We had a friend with an excavator and a truck who loaded them up and took the tiles away free of charge. All the hardwood batons from the roof we have cut up and are burning in our wood fire. All the surplus bricks that we removed we advertised for free on FB marketplace and got rid of them all. We are very budget conscious, so doing the clean-up saved dollars and recycling the timber for other purposes has also saved on firewood for the winter months.

roof going on, massive cleanup startsFamily working bee

Step 10

Here is the reveal. It's so nice to have a vision and see it come together. It has been a massive few months with this outdoor reno, but we got there!

Tools and materials

Materials used in the project:

• Untreated Pine 90 x 35mm
• Blueboard
• James Hardie cladding
• James Hardie linea weatherboard
• CladMate Pro
• SilverWrap insulation
• Hardwood 50mm x 25mm
• Galvanised masonry screws
• Treated Pine screws
• Countersink drill bit
• Treated Pine primed LOSP
• Exterior gap filler
• Off white cement
• Dulux Vivid White semi gloss exterior paint
• Taubmans low sheen sunproof exterior paint
• Windows
• Custom made timber door
• Black door handle
• Secondhand red brick tiles.

Tools used in the project:

• Mitre saw
• Multi-tool
• Circular saw
• Nail gun
• Jigsaw
• Impact driver
• Hammer drill
• Various other hand tools.

Before and after

Our home when we purchased it in 2016

More inspiration for your home

Experienced renovator Wayne transformed the front of his house with a formal entrance created using a single car garage.

Bunnings Workshop community member Dinny rejuvenated a tired 1950s weatherboard house and garden in this project: weatherboard home renewed with paint.

Get more inspiration from our Top 10 most popular front yard projects.