With timber getting a better press these days, you’d expect wood cladding to be benefiting. In terms of aesthetics, thermal insulation, the environment and its historic use within the UK, the product has a lot going for it.
And there is evidence to suggest its use is growing. Traders report increasing business, while market research reports confirm the upward trend.
One study by Manchester-based Market & Business Development Ltd (MBD; further details on the report, which costs £550, are available at www.mbdltd.co.uk) says that the UK market for external wall cladding grew by 26% between 2000 and 2004, reflecting a buoyant construction market.
Total volume for all types of cladding was estimated to be 31.3 million m2 – the majority of which is metal. However, timber is believed to have accounted for 207,000m2 in 2004, with sales increasing by 18% since 2000 – equivalent to a 6% annual growth. MBD believes timber will expand by a further 7,000m2 in 2005.
But researchers say despite the product’s aesthetic appeal, use of timber cladding is still “relatively uncommon”, with the “frequent need for repair and maintenance work”, compared with other materials, likely to have curbed growth.
The industry is doing its bit to disabuse the market of this sort of outmoded view, with perhaps the most prominent promotion being the Western Red Cedar Export Association’s European marketing push. And the development of products such as ThermoWood and high specification factory-finished softwood products is further reinforcing the message that cladding performs as good as it looks.
Inspiring applications of timber cladding and shingles during the past 12 months include the use of western red cedar (WRC) for the new Ticehurst School in Sussex. John Brash & Co, of Gainsborough, supplied 900 bundles of cedar shingles and 3,000m2 of cladding for the project. The company also supplied cedar shingles for the £3.3m treehouse at Alnwick Garden.
One of the target markets for wood cladding is housebuilders as large developers are not currently using the product in large quantities, with Westbury plc only applying it in its operations with Essex and Kent.
The division uses cement particleboard Eternic 50, primarily for maintenance reasons, with timber sometimes being used when planners demand it for the local vernacular.
Marlow Timber Engineering Ltd said it is unusual to have timber cladding specified for its timber frame projects, with the situation being driven by planners and clients. Brick is the normal external elevation for its buildings.
But wood cladding is proving popular for eco-homes.
Shropshire eco-home developer Living Villages has built a massively popular collection of homes in Bishops Castle, many of them incorporating Siberian larch cladding.
Company founder Bob Tomlinson, uses the product for its durability and looks, plus to match the timbered barns which are prevalent in the area.
He said the absence of wood cladding on the majority of residential developments was partly “cultural” but he believes this could change.
“The fundamental challenge will be the perception of the buying public. They do not expect to see anything particularly exciting from the volume housebuilders.”
Mr Tomlinson hopes the success of the development will show other builders that they won’t go bankrupt if they try timber cladding! He believes increased marketing will help more wood cladding being specified but “building more timber clad homes is probably the biggest thing”.
In the future Mr Tomlinson hopes to take the cladding process off-site into the timber frame factory.
Encouragement needed
Duncan Mayes, Stora Enso Timber business development manager, said it was a challenge to encourage the UK construction industry to move into other façades, such as timber instead of brick.
He added: “There needs to be a unified approach to marketing and education, rather than just the individual companies doing their bit.”
Mr Mayes highlighted the importance of using timber cladding in the right places – not too close to the ground level. He also advocates a combination of exterior materials in buildings – both timber and brick work very well together – a trend he has noticed in several European countries.
Marchington-based Capricorn Timber says its cladding business is good and “growing all the time”, with most jobs in the commercial sector, although it also reports interest from self-builders.
Roger Arveschoug, managing director, believes the Kyoto agreement is driving demand for cedar and Siberian larch cladding. “We think the public are becoming more educated about timber cladding,” he said. “We still feel a little bit insulated from specifiers. It would be nice to have a bit more dialogue with them.”
Capricorn, which recently invested about £110,000 in a Weinig planer and £76,000 on a new 76-tonne lorry, intends to revamp its website to help address the problem, making it more specifier friendly.
Tim Gabriel, MBM Forest Products’ director of speciality softwoods, said there has been a “tremendous resurgence” of interest in cedar as a cladding material driven by a fashion among architects who recognise the species’ “unique” properties for the end-use.
Mr Gabriel said cedar shingle orders were “steady” and had benefited from the trend for garden buildings.
“They are chosen predominantly for their appearance because they give a very sympathetic roofing appearance to a leisure building in the garden.
“As people have more of the leisure pound to spend, perhaps represented by the increasing value of their properties, then they have released equity in their buildings and invested in fancier garden buildings,” he said.
Christian Brash, managing director of John Brash & Co, said cedar was still the dominant cladding material but reported increasing interest for ThermoWood and larch.
“The issue with cedar is getting the environmental side sorted out. Quite a bit more Sustainable Forestry Initiative-certified cedar is coming out at the moment.”
He said specifiers are not asking for cedar to be pre-stained but fire retardant treatments are being used when the product is used close to boundaries.
Taylor Maxwell Group has recently been involved in supplying a number of projects with wood cladding, including a city apartment development, schools, a sports hall and a cattery. More than 90% is WRC, while other species include Douglas fir and larch.
Roger Godden, director, said: “One of the main reasons for timber cladding’s popularity has to be the drive within the building industry towards rainscreen claddings.”
UPM believes a revival of the timber cladding market is taking place.
However, it said there is very little guidance or choice available to specifiers for satisfying all a client’s requirements such as performance, aesthetics and environmental concerns.
UPM points to the BRE and TRADA Technology, which both recommend a specialist approach combining expertise on timber selection, profiling and utilising the best available coating technology.
A UPM spokesperson said: “In the long term, this approach will win the day and reduce overall maintenance costs during the lifetime of the construction.”
To this end the company is launching a new high performance timber cladding product, WISA-Pro Façade in the UK. It is partnering with Sykes Timber, Abbott Coating Specialists, plus paint and fire treatment suppliers to offer specifiers a package which can be tailored for individual cladding projects.
It is thought that this new product could provide competition in the UK for the popular Cape Cod product, a Canadian factory-finished softwood cladding which has a 15-year warranty.
Meanwhile, BRE is conducting tests on homegrown spruce at its sites in Garston and East Kilbride with funding from the Forestry Commission. The performance of the untreated, coated samples, which are also in Iceland and the Faroe Islands for comparison, are being monitored over the next couple of years.
BRE will also publish a digest shortly on its research into WRC and larch cladding.
