Timber Cladding

[Hedi]

Hi All, I bought a timber cladding house which built in 1920. My neighbors and the previous owner also claim that they never need to replace any timbers, just paint over it. But then I look at tje current stage of the wall, I am not quite sure does it needs replacement to all or just a few broken one, and then brush up tje flake then repaint it. Any advice if i should replace all of them? Thank you for your time, greatly appreciated.

 

[jeds]

It would need a good poke around to be certain, but I'd say those boards are in the last quarter of their lives. I reckon a clean up, prep and paint would give them another 10 to 15 years. Depends how you would want them to look really.

 

[Diver Fred]

It would need a good poke around to be certain, but I'd say those boards are in the last quarter of their lives. I reckon a clean up, prep and paint would give them another 10 to 15 years. Depends how you would want them to look really.

Agree, good brushing down with a stiff bristled brush (e.g. https://www.toolstation.com/stiff-general-purpose-brush/p97606 and/or https://www.toolstation.com/industrial-stiff-yard-broom-with-handle/p29500). Make sure any bare timber is back to solid wood.

The treatment - ideally ought to be proper 'Creosote', very difficult to find nowadays or a mix of creosote and Bitchumastic. You need a liquid to soak into the timber. Modern wood preservatives just don't last as long.

 

[Hedi]

That's difficult decision now, when I poke it from the bottom it feels like there is about 15% of board that need replacement. So the question is should I spend the money to replace a few rotten one and paint it all over for it to last another 10 years. Or should I replace all and then it last for 25 years (as wgt25 suggested, nowaday modern wood perservation don't last long)...any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mr Chibs]

I’ve just clad my house, ok, still a bit left to do

I was thinking, how I would go on replacing any of the planks... merely out of curiosity.
Was thinking it would be a faff.

Having used stainless steel nails, (visible heads) they are not easily removed, and it’s the nail in the plank above that holds down the one below.

You might find it’s difficult to to replace individual planks without buggering up the ones above/below.

If you plan to Live in the house for a long time, it might be worth replacing it... wall by wall.

I used rough sawn larch, around £20 per sq m.
Larch doesn’t need finishing... although I’ve painted mine, as I didn’t want it woody.

 

[Hedi]

Hi Mr Chibs
I am planning to use thermowood and manufactory coated in black so hopefully the paint will last a bit longer because the scaffolding renting is expensive... theromowood cost about £36 per squared meters and then extra for the coating.... expensive but hopefully it a bit last long.

 

[^woody^]

Thermowood is a relatively new concept and only has a 25-30 year life expectancy depending on the species. It also fades fast and the grain may open more. So maintenance may be higher than other timber, so needs to be factored in.

 

[catlad]

Have you looked at cedral weatherplank

 

[Hedi]

Hi woody, thank you for your advise, the wood have to be painted in black to maintain the conversation of the area features, so I can accept fading, my biggest concern is brittle. I don't know about the grain, but your advice is very useful, i will go to the showroom and check out the samples there. Thanks

 

[Hedi]

Have you looked at cedral weatherplank

My main concern of cedral is the breathable, because the building has wooden structure inside so the house need to be breathable and I heard cedral aren't that good (correct me if i were wrong) but it is long lasting.

 

[gonch69]

All cladding needs air flow cedral,or timber with vent gap and mesh cedral fitted correctly will last a long time

 

[^woody^]

It depends on what situation you have there already, but Cedral like all cladding, should have a ventilated air cavity behind it.

Also, if you are not aware, when renewing cladding you should consider the viability of increasing insulation, in which case this could involve adapting the frame to form a vented cavity and so Cedral could be potentially used as part of any adaptation work.

 

[bluebaron]

It depends on what situation you have there already, but Cedral like all cladding, should have a ventilated air cavity behind it.

Also, if you are not aware, when renewing cladding you should consider the viability of increasing insulation, in which case this could involve adapting the frame to form a vented cavity and so Cedral could be potentially used as part of any adaptation work.

Ive noted the installation states min 30mm cavity anyone had problems using 25mm batten? I’m have problems sourcing 38mm plus it’s a lot more expensive. Not sure whether 5mm will make a huge difference?

 

[Mr Chibs]

When I read up, size of plank, thickness and style of cladding meant using a nail of a certain length, this in turn makes the choice of batten straightforward, mine was 22mm thick, when overlapped 44mm. I was told to use batten thickness of the overlap... yes I have 45mm battens, not cheapest, but you can get a good length on nail in it 75mm Stainless annular ring.

My cladding (larch) was horizontal and Mainly 5m in length.

 

[bluebaron]

Why did you overlap your battens if laying horizontally? You would only need one course if vertical battens?