Which cladding is best?
Q. I'm keen to build a weatherboarded house on the East Anglian coast,
but I'm not sure which timber to use for the cladding. What would
you suggest?
A. A classic choice - and the timber that I used on my own home - is
western red cedar. It starts as a rich reddish colour and weathers to a
gorgeous silvery grey. Traditionally it was the timber chosen for
shingles. The great thing about cedar is that it can be left entirely
untreated.
A cheaper alternative would be to use European softwood, such as
spruce. This is relatively knotty and not nearly as attractive in the
raw, so it's best painted. For external use it would normally be
supplied as a 'tannalised' timber, which has a greenish hue
and means that it has been pressure treated with preservative.
It's worth looking around your area for inspiration, too. I saw a
beautifully-clad contemporary house a few weeks ago for which the
builders had used red lauro. Another amazing home was dressed in oak,
but I imagine they must have had to use expensive, thick sections
because oak generally twists awfully when left exposed to the
elements.
On the coast, regular maintenance will be necessary. But please do
not fall into the trap of thinking that uPVC cladding would be a good
idea. It is bad for the environment, difficult to recycle and
unappealing to the touch. It also has no natural variation of tone.
What's more, while it may not need to be painted regularly, uPVC
will not have as long a life span as properly-maintained timber.
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