Recommended plastic to clad a lean-to workshop

I am trying to select a suitable cladding material for a lean-to workshop that extends from the brick wall of an existing garage.

The frame (inc. rafters) is all built from pressure treated carcassing. I initially considered "Cedral Click" cladding by Marley Eternit but it turned out to be too expensive and difficult to source.

For simplicity and cost saving, at the expense of aesthetics, I'm now going for a wall structure of: {rigid plastic cladding, air gap, polystyrene block, plywood inner surface}.

Please can others recommend a UV resistant plastic sheet suitable for this application? Help with any of the above will be gratefully received.

Edited By choochoo_baloo on 17/09/2018 00:37:39

Edited By choochoo_baloo on 17/09/2018 00:37:58

Edited By choochoo_baloo on 17/09/2018 00:39:21

My shed is upvc clad... the same guys that did our doubleglazing built it. Because of the weird way local builders here work/charge I haven't got a clue what it cost but the whole job wasn't silly money.. did build a conservatory at the same time.

pgk

You can get uPVC weatherboarding that looks like the Marley one, I used some by Durasid recently or if you want cheaper just white uPVC will work out cheaper especially on the trim items which are just plastic rather than colour coated ali extrusions. I think the Durasid worked out about £50/m2 including all the trims etc.but it was a long thin area so should be less on a room height wall.

My worry with plastic sheet would be movement particularly if a dark colour exposed to sunlight but mostly that it cannot breath easily.

Edited By JasonB on 17/09/2018 06:57:51

Should be plenty of redundant cladding going cheap as it is being removed from many high rise blocks throughout the country!

Dave W

my upvc shed

Don't overlook "ding resistance". Workshop, ground floor level, walls are much more vulnerable to being inadvertently hit that the first floor and above levels at which plastic cladding is normally used. I'd expect the lighter, less costly variants to be more easily damaged than the premium stuff.

Far as I'm aware there is no satisfactory repair if you do ding it. Briefly considered it as a maintenance free cladding when I built my workshop but the builder guy helping on the job categorically ruled it out as being too easily damaged. He had a point as I'v thumped my walls a time or three in the intervening 14 years. Obviously I don't know if this trikes were hard enough to damage plastic but ....

Clive.

c_b . Given the properties of the various materials you will be using , what fire prevention measures will you be installing please ? Trevor .

Quick look at install instructions for one cladding supplier indicates 2mm oversize holes to allow for expansion and 38mm gap behind, not stated but implied the gap is well ventilated so the cladding contributes less to the overall insulation.

I realise that the OP was reference plastic cladding but last year I lent a hand to a friend who built is own workshop and he clad the outside with PVC coated galvanised steel box sheeting. He argued that the steel cladding worked out half the price of the plastic cladding he had considered.

He started with a concrete base then built a 100 x 50 treated timber frame, he then filled all the frame work with 50mm polystyrene sheets and lined the inside with 12mm WBP ply. The outside was then covered with more of the 12mm ply so he had a ply -polystyrene - ply sandwhich. The outside walls were then clad with the PVC/Steel sheets (coloured dark grey) and I thought it looked really good, certainly workshop like. Having now had his first winter in the shop he said it was "snug as a bug" in there.

His workshop is free standing and I guess if you are attaching a shop to your house or garage you would have more pleasing lines and finishes with plastic, but I didnt think his shop looked out of place in his garden.

Thanks all, useful advice as always on this site.

Can you provide details or even better a link to this PVC/steel material please Ron?

https://www.steelroofsheets.co.uk/categories/pvc-plastisol-roofing-sheets/

Link above, my mate bought his local but if you google PVC coated steel box sheet there are numerous suppliers of which the above is just one.

Hope it helps

Ron

Swish make some nice cladding and it resists yellowing if you wanted white.

Mike

#2 for coated steel sheet. What I used on my roof. Still excellent 14 years on. Should have used the bonded insulation variety tho' as the plain stuff can cause condensation in winter. Retrofitting insulation sheets was mega pain. Partly alleviated by reduction in heating bill despite having a proper attic floor with 6" of insulation beneath which was more than enough to ensure I had no in shop condensation worries.

Probably 20 - 25 years ago the PTB decided that the asbestos sheet (?) roofs at work should be replaced with plain steel sheets. Serious condensation troubles so all pulled off and replaced with bonded insulation variety.

Look around bit more and you should find an insulated variety intended for walls hung directly off framing. Which may be the easiest build.

Clive.

Try all you like, but I'm afraid that tractor just isn't going to fit through the door

Neil

uPVC is inherently fire resistant due to the chlorine content, certainly less flammable than a wooden shed.

Don't breathe the fumes if you do try to burn it though, it gives off hydrochloric acid fumes.

Neil