Panelling as alternative to cladding/rendering

[Nat5678]

Hi there. I'm not sure if this is the correct section to post this, if not and someone can let me know a better place, thank you.

We are renovating our house at the mo. We have four big bays with old tiles between the top and bottom bays, we don't like cladding or render so we were at a loss what to do with that area. We have now found a solution from researching on the net (American Images) but have never seen it anywhere in the UK. I've attached a pic. I've found a company that does do exterior panelling but from their gallery it looks like they've only panelled outside on the conservatories (no pics of under Windows or panelling anywhere else).

Does anyone know if this is pos? why this may not be possible? and why it's no where to be seen in the UK?

 

[JohnD]

I think I would have called it timber cladding. The americans might possibly be using a wood-effect vinyl, and this is also likely on the conservatories you saw. Many people consider vinyl to be repellent. The bay window in your illustration has a flat roof (undesirable) and no gutter (very undesirable) leading to the lead or algae staining on the wall (very very very undesirable) and is constructed so that water would get into the frame and cause rot (exceptionally undesirable) so I consider it a poor design.

I can see you could make it with WBP ply, but it looks like you want a timber stain finish, and it will be very wearisome to keep it weathertight and decorated. I have a small amount of external joinery, and am finding that wood dye plus linseed oil is giving good results on the ground-floor shiplap cladding, and I am using water-based shed and fence stain on the large softwood framing on the other side of the house, which needs scaffold for access. It suffered wet-rot and I had it repaired in teak from a boatbuilder. It has lead flashing to keep rain off the top, which was renewed last year.

Ornamental softwood outdoor joinery needs far too much maintenance, without which it gets shabby or rots. Five years is about the best you can hope for between treatments. Incidentally, I also have a slate-hung wall on the upper floors, which is subject to coastal storms and has needed no maintenance since the house was built, which I think is about 30 years. A previous house had a tile-hung bay over 100 years old, and probably has needed attention twice in that time.

 

[Nat5678]

Hi John,

Thank you so much for your detailed reply!! As you are so knowledgeable I thought I'd post a pic of our house we are renovating. We are having new widows/garage door, the pebble dash cleaned up then painted a brilliant white, repointing the brick work (wish the whole house was brick as I love it) then hoping to change the tiles inbetween the bays to the white wood panelling/cladding mentioned (the driveway will also be a creamy white). The bays are curved, do you think this would be a problem? Also who would we go to to do this for us? A joiner? A carpenter? And any idea of cost?

Thanks a lot John!

 

[JohnD]

Tile-hung will look in keeping with the period of the house, matching the roof. Timber or vinyl cladding will look weird. I'd ask a local roofer if you are tiling it, if you want wooden panels ask around for a joiner. I don't know how to design it to withstand weather.

Include a breathable membrane, and maximise insulation, which is probably not present. Kingspan or Celotex are suitable under cladding, with the joints taped.

 

[Nabbers]

You could achieve that affect in woodgrain upvc. Wrap a thin sheet of the 2mm stuff around and fix where the framing is located and then cover those fixings with the frame which you could use flat upvc trim bonded in place. That stuff bends easy.