Futurewood
Cladding a standard Australian house costs between $15,000 and $45,000, or roughly $50 to $250 per square metre once installed. The final number depends on the material you pick, the size and shape of your house, how hard it is to access the walls, and the rules your local council enforces. A small single-storey home with simple walls sits at the low end. A two-storey house with lots of corners, windows, and a harsh climate rating sits at the high end.
Most quotes look similar on paper but hide very different scopes of work. One quote might only cover the cladding boards. Another might include waterproofing, insulation upgrades, and trim work. This is where budgets blow out. The rest of this article breaks down exactly what changes the price, so you know what you are actually paying for before you sign anything.
What actually changes the price from job to job?
Four things move the number more than anything else: cladding, house size, wall access, and existing wall condition.
- Material can swing the price by $100 or more per square metre between the cheapest and most premium options.
- House size matters less per square metre as the job gets bigger, because fixed costs like scaffolding and site setup spread across more wall area.
- Access adds cost fast. A house on a slope, or one with a second storey and no easy scaffold points, pushes labour costs up by 15 to 30 percent.
- Existing walls decide whether you clad over the top or strip back to the frame. Stripping adds removal costs but can reveal rot or pest damage that needs fixing first.
I know this because a client of mine priced a job on a flat block with easy access and got quotes around $38,000 for a mid-range composite material. A near-identical house two suburbs over, built on a steep block, came in at $52,000 for the same product. The only real difference was scaffolding and crane hire.
Why does your climate zone change your cladding budget?
Australia is split into climate classifications that decide what level of building insulation and weather resistance your cladding system must meet. A house in a temperate climate zone, like much of southern Victoria or inland New South Wales, faces lighter requirements than a house in a cyclone-rated part of Queensland.
In cyclone zones, cladding fixings need to meet higher wind load ratings. Builders often use heavier fasteners, additional bracing, and thicker sheet products. This can add $3,000 to $8,000 to a standard job. Coastal properties, regardless of state, usually need corrosion-resistant fixings because salt air eats through standard screws and brackets within a few years.
When I worked through a coastal Queensland job, the fixing upgrade alone added close to $4,500 to what would have been a straightforward inland quote. The client was frustrated at first, but the alternative was replacing failed screws within five years, which costs far more in labour than material.
Does building insulation get added automatically?
No. Many quotes price the cladding sheet or board only. If your current wall insulation is thin, outdated, or missing, adding proper building insulation during the cladding job typically costs an extra $20 to $40 per square metre. It is far cheaper to add insulation while the wall is already open than to do it as a separate job later.
How much do different cladding materials cost per square metre?
Here is a rough breakdown based on supply and install pricing across the country:
- Fiber cement siding: $60 to $110 per square metre. Durable, fire resistant, and widely used because it handles most Australian climates well.
- Cement board: $70 to $120 per square metre. Similar performance to fiber cement siding but often comes in larger format panels, which can reduce joint lines and labour time.
- Timber-look composite material: $90 to $180 per square metre. Gives the look of real timber without the maintenance, and holds up better in direct sun than painted timber.
- Solid timber cladding: $100 to $220 per square metre, with ongoing maintenance costs most people underestimate.
- Metal roof and metal wall cladding: $55 to $150 per square metre, depending on profile and coating. Many homeowners pair metal roofing with a different wall cladding product, so it is worth pricing the roof and walls separately rather than assuming one quote covers both.
One of my clients wanted the timber look without the upkeep. We compared solid timber against a composite material option and the price difference was about $12,000 across a 150 square metre house. She chose composite. Three years on, she has repainted nothing and sanded nothing, while a neighbour with real timber has already resealed his twice.
What building code requirements add to the cost?
Every cladding job in Australia has to meet the National Construction Code and relevant state building code rules. This covers fire resistance, weatherproofing, and structural fixing standards. None of this is optional, and skipping it is not a shortcut, it is a liability.
The two building code items that add the most cost are fire rating requirements near boundaries and waterproofing details around windows, doors, and wall junctions. If your house sits close to a neighbouring boundary, you may need a cladding system, which costs more than standard product and may need a specific installation method signed off by a certifier.
Waterproofing is the one corner that should never get cut. Poor waterproofing around window flashings and joints is the single biggest cause of cladding failure in Australia. I have seen a job where a builder skipped proper flashing tape to save two days of labour. Eighteen months later, the client had water tracking behind the cladding and into the wall frame. The repair cost more than three times what proper waterproofing would have cost upfront.
Is it cheaper to clad over existing walls or strip back to the frame?
Cladding over existing walls is usually 20 to 35 percent cheaper because there is no demolition, no disposal cost, and less labour. But this only works if the existing wall is sound, flat, and free of moisture problems.
Stripping back to the frame costs more upfront but gives you a clean slate. You can fix structural issues, upgrade insulation properly, and avoid trapping moisture between old and new layers. If your current walls are brick veneer in good condition, cladding over is often fine. If they are old fibro, timber with rot, or anything with asbestos, stripping back is not optional, it is required by law and adds specialist removal costs.
What hidden costs catch people off guard?
These are the extras that rarely show up in the first quote but almost always show up on the final invoice:
- Scaffolding or elevated work platform hire, often $1,500 to $5,000 depending on house height.
- Council permits and certifier fees, usually $500 to $2,000.
- Repair of rotten or damaged framing found once old cladding comes off.
- Matching trims, corner flashings, and window reveals to the new product.
- Repainting or re-rendering areas disturbed during the job.
I always tell clients to ask for a line item breakdown before work starts. A quote that just says “supply and install cladding” for a flat fee is a red flag. You want to see material cost, labour cost, waterproofing allowance, and a contingency line for what happens if damaged framing turns up.
How can you get the best price without cutting corners?
Get three quotes that all price the same material and the same scope, including waterproofing and any insulation upgrade. Quotes that are much lower than the others are usually missing something, not offering a better deal. Ask each builder directly how they handle window flashing and wall junction waterproofing. Their answer tells you more about quality than their price does.
Check that the quoted system is rated for your specific climate classification, not just a general Australian standard. A product rated for a temperate climate zone in Melbourne is not automatically suitable for a cyclone-rated part of Queensland, even if the brand is the same.
The one thing to do next
Before you accept any quote, ask for a written breakdown that separates material, labour, waterproofing, and any insulation work, and confirm the product is rated for your exact climate zone. That single step prevents most of the budget blowouts and comebacks that homeowners deal with after the job is done.
