How to fix cladding plastic corner peeling off?

Kathlyn

I’ve had new external cladding (James Harding fine textured) installed on the house and the corners were finished off with plastic corners. These are now peeling off and I’m seeing a lot of gaps. I need to fix it what corners should I use and what sealer would be the right one?

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Kathlyn. It's terrific to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about fixing a plastic moulding.

I would presume the moulding has become displaced as the construction adhesive used to fix it in position hasn't sufficiently adhered to the smooth plastic. A simple fix might be to remove the corner piece, scratch the inside of it up with 60-grit sandpaper and then apply new adhesive and push it back into position. Tape it in place until the adhesive dries.

You've shown a rather substantial gap in the external corner and butt joints of the sheets. Here's the installation guide from James Hardie. You'll note that there are a number of external corner joints that are recommended. Below I've included the closest to your situation. It appears that the gap present should be filled with a continuous bead of Hardie's Joint Sealant.

Given that the trim piece has come off and the potential requirement for sealing the joint, you might like to speak with the installer to see if they are able to assist with the repair.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell