Cladding outside wall

[Amandla]

Hello all!

Total novice here! I have a rather messy looking brick wall which has been patchily cemented over. It's an outside wall on an external staircase to my house. I want to clad it with wood to make it look neater.

Can anyone recommend to me a SDS drill I would need to use for this?
Someone suggested just bonding the battens to the wall with strong adhesive?
Would I need to use a vapour barrier or anything underneath the cladding?

I was hoping to batten the wall then clad with larch.

 

[He who knows]

I have a rather messy looking brick wall which has been patchily cemented over. It's an outside wall on an external staircase to my house. I want to clad it with wood to make it look neater.

Have you thought about alternative solutions? A green wall? Or growing ivy up it?

Can anyone recommend to me a SDS drill I would need to use for this?

Any good "pro" make - Makita, Hilti, Blue Bosch (my fave), corded, not battery, SDS+ or SDS Max drill, 4J or more. Make sure it has rotostop (chisel setting) and a clutch.

Look on eBay for used ones, they're well made and robust, so even if they look a bit scuffed and dirty they should be fine, and spares tend to be available for years. For the cost of a new DIY-type make like Black&Decker you should get quite a good, or quite a long way towards a good, used one.

The reason I say that is that you don't have one, so you might as well get one which will be able to tackle anything you might want to throw at it in the future, rather than just drill small holes in brick.

Someone suggested just bonding the battens to the wall with strong adhesive?

Never take DIY advice from them.

Would I need to use a vapour barrier or anything underneath the cladding?

Breather membrane between the battens and the wall.

I was hoping to batten the wall then clad with larch.

Sadly it's Mr Putin who grows the good stuff - don't think the Scottish variety is as good.

Whatever you do don't treat it, leave it to weather naturally.