(from channel 4 website)
DIY & BUILDING
10 Home Improvement Nightmares
Stone cladding
What is it?
Stone cladding is a lightweight mainly concrete-based artificial stone, which became popular during the 1980s and was a misguided attempt to bring a more rural aesthetic into towns and cities. At the time of the big council house sell-off it became popular as a way of differentiating homes from those that remained as council stock. Occasionally real stone cladding is used to make an interesting external feature and can look fab. Stone cladding has been associated with damp problems in homes.
Is it a deal breaker?
Widely disliked and considered quite naff in smart circles, it will make anyone who cares about the kerb appeal of their home think twice. Like pebbledash, removal will be expensive and damaging to the home.
What can you do about it?
Removing stone cladding will almost certainly cause damage to the brickwork underneath, and your home may need to be sandblasted and rendered afterward. You could look to get some quotes from specialists in this field but the whole process will be noisy, damaging and expensive.
OR: The bizarre colours involved in stone cladding are the feature that makes this material so naff. Painting over the cladding will reduce the immediate impact, while clever deployment of features like window boxes, climbing plants, and shrouding bushes can prove attractive enough to almost make you forget that it is there.
Average estimated cost for removal = £3,000.