Why You Should Always Choose Timber for Your Cladding

From boosting curb appeal to adding insulation, there are plenty of good reasons to add cladding to your property, but you’ll need to be careful when it comes to choosing the material. Some people are tempted to choose artificial materials such as uPVC due to their lower cost, and yet this is almost always the wrong decision.

Cladding, more commonly known as siding, is meant to provide exterior protection to your home while increasing its curb appeal. It is a popular choice for suburban houses, and fairly easy to install. A reliable siding contractor similar to the ones at https://www.sidingcompanycharlotte.com/ could do the job for you as well. Most contractors these days would recommend cladding made of wood, and there are good reasons for it.

So, here are just a few reasons why wood makes a better choice:

Longevity

Adding cladding to your property isn’t particularly difficult, but it’s not the sort of task you want to repeat every couple of years. With that in mind, it only makes sense to pick wood over other options. If properly treated, wooden panels can last for hundreds of years, especially if you use old-growth hardwood. Laminate might seem like a long-term solution since it’s a manmade material, and yet the maximum life span tends to be around 15 years. The problem is that UV light makes the material become brittle, so cracks are more likely to develop. Laminate can also fade or discolour under UV light, and that process is going to start immediately.

Aesthetic appeal
Wooden cladding tends to offer much more aesthetic appeal than manmade building materials. It is a natural material that generally blends in well with the environment, creating a pleasing, modern look that stands the test of time. Wooden siding or cladding is available in a variety of colours, textures, and styles, making it easy to find the perfect choice to suit any project. A siding company (such as durham siding company) can help you to choose the right type of wood cladding for your project, as well as providing advice on installation and maintenance.

Eco-Friendliness

Some people make the incorrect assumption that wood is not an eco-friendly material to use for cladding. Of course, wood is a natural product, but it’s a sustainable one when sourced correctly and used for projects meant to last for a long time. Manmade building materials are very different, and, from an environmental point of view, much worse. Oil and chlorine are used during production, and it’s a very hard material to recycle. Don’t be misled by the fact that materials such as vinyl can be recycled – the process is extremely costly, making little economic sense.

Maintenance

In many ways, vinyl is very low maintenance, but that’s only because you’ll generally be forced to replace it instead of maintain it. Laminates are quite sticky, so they retain the dirty airborne pollution that comes into contact with it. Mould is a common problem, and stains are very hard to remove. Wood seems high maintenance since it must be refinished relatively regularly, but maintenance is really quite easy. The types of timber typically used for cladding are naturally weather resistant and durable enough to stand the test of time.