Introduction to Wooden Cladding

Wooden cladding is a practical, attractive way to adorn the outside of your building. It offers a natural, traditional-looking finish, is environmentally-friendly (when responsibly sourced), and with proper care can last for many years.

About Wooden Cladding

Wooden cladding can be made from a variety of different wood species and come in a range of different styles. It can cover up a worn, weathered exterior with a fresh, new look or just be fitted as a pure style choice. It can evoke the image of a traditional wood building, but it is also a popular choice for very modern structures.

Advantages of Wooden Cladding

Wood cladding is readily available from almost any supplier that doesn’t exclusively specialize in a different material. It is also a reasonably affordable material, and one that is much easier to work with than most other types of cladding which lowers both the time and cost involved in installation. It is entirely possible for anybody reasonably skilled in carpentry to fit wooden cladding themselves. If a specific area becomes damaged, it will be relatively simple to patch it in and should be possible to match the new wood closely with the old.

Another of the advantages of wooden cladding is that it can be used to achieve a lot of different looks. By choosing different species of wood and different styles of cladding, the final appearance of the building can be readily tailored to your tastes. Your choice of wood treatment also gives you a lot of room to customize your cladding. A product such as Textrol penetrating wood oil will give an oil finish, and a choice of natural wood shades or the option to simply enhance the natural color of your cladding with a clear treatment. Alternatively, a product like Solid Colour Stain will give you access to a wider and brighter variety of colors rather than simply shades of natural wood color and will give you a rich opaque matte finish.

Disadvantages of Wooden Cladding

As a natural and, in the long term, biodegradable material, wood cladding needs can require more maintenance than some other materials if it is to survive exposure to the elements over time. Your choice of treatment can do a lot to minimize the work. Owatrol wood protection solutions can provide effective protection that should last for a number of years with either no maintenance or minor touch-ups to worn areas. However, the need to maintain your cladding and keep an eye out for wear should still be taken into account.

In the event that your wooden cladding does start to decay, unlike some other materials it can become a safety concern as pieces of wood or entire planks may become loose and be in danger of falling. However, this should only happen if damage to your cladding or rot gets out of control, so keeping on top of maintenance, protecting your wood with a high quality wood protection product and seeing to any problems that develop quickly will do a lot to prevent your cladding from becoming a hazard.