Custom cladding is one of those services most homeowners don’t know about until someone explains it to them. In simple terms, it’s the process of wrapping exposed wood trim — around your windows, doors, corners, and roofline — with pre-painted aluminum. It eliminates the need to repaint every few years, stops moisture from rotting your wood frames, and gives your exterior a clean, finished look that lasts. Modern Renovations does custom cladding work across Winnipeg and southern Manitoba, bending and fitting each piece onsite so it sits flush and tight against your home.
Cladding isn’t siding — it’s the detail work that finishes off everything else. When we talk about custom cladding, we’re usually talking about window frames and sills — covering the exposed wood around your windows so it stops peeling and rotting, door frames — same idea, wrapping the trim around your entry doors and patio doors, corner posts and trim boards — the vertical trim at the corners of your house and around architectural features, band boards and frieze boards — the horizontal trim between storeys or where your wall meets the soffit, and any other exposed wood that’s taking weather and needs protection.
The aluminum is custom-bent on a brake right at your house. Every piece is measured and cut to fit your specific trim dimensions — there’s no off-the-shelf sizing, which is why it’s called custom cladding.
Painted wood trim on the exterior of a Winnipeg home is fighting a losing battle. Manitoba’s UV exposure breaks down paint faster than most climates, and our freeze-thaw cycles drive moisture into every crack in the finish. Once water gets behind the paint, the wood starts to swell, the paint peels faster, and rot sets in.
Most homeowners deal with this by repainting every 3 to 5 years. That’s money and time spent on a cycle that never ends — because the underlying problem (wood exposed to weather) never goes away. Cladding breaks that cycle permanently. Once the aluminum is on, you’re done. No more scraping, priming, or painting. The wood underneath stays dry and protected, and the aluminum finish holds its colour for decades.
We see this especially on homes in East Kildonan, Transcona, and St. James — 1960s and 70s builds where the original wood window frames and trim have been repainted four or five times and the wood is starting to go soft underneath.
We start by assessing the condition of the existing wood trim. If the wood underneath is still solid, we prep the surface, apply caulking where needed, and install the aluminum cladding overtop. Each piece is custom-bent to your exact measurements, fitted tight, and sealed at every joint.
If the wood is rotting or too far gone, we’ll replace the damaged sections before cladding over them — there’s no point wrapping aluminum over rotten wood. We’ll tell you upfront if any wood needs replacing so there are no surprises.
We match the cladding colour to your siding, soffit, and fascia so everything looks like it was done at the same time. And because we handle siding, soffit, fascia, and eavestroughs too, we can coordinate cladding as part of a full exterior project or do it as a standalone job.
No. Siding covers the main wall surfaces of your home. Cladding is the aluminum trim work around windows, doors, corners, and other detail areas. They work together to create a complete, finished exterior, but they’re different products and different installation processes.
It depends on how many windows and doors you have, the complexity of the trim details, and whether the underlying wood needs repair. We price by the window/door and give you a complete quote upfront after measuring onsite.
Yes. Pre-painted aluminum cladding stock comes in a wide range of standard colours, and we carry options that match the most common siding, soffit, and fascia colours. If you need an exact custom colour match, we can coordinate that too.
Not at all. The cladding wraps over the exterior trim only — it doesn’t interfere with the window sash, frame, or hardware. Your windows open, close, and lock exactly the same way as before.
If you’re tired of repainting your exterior trim or your window frames are starting to rot, cladding is the permanent fix. Give us a call and we’ll come take measurements. Modern Renovations serves Winnipeg, East St. Paul, West St. Paul, Headingley, and communities across southern Manitoba.