Timber-Look Cladding Advantages

Smooth, crisp and elegant, there’s no denying that timber is one of the best-looking building materials on the market.

But let’s not ignore its downsides.

It’s expensive, flammable, prone to rotting and difficult to maintain.

The smart alternative? Timber-look cladding made from fibre cement!

Fibre cement cladding has come a long way in the past few years. It emulates the look of timber with remarkably accuracy, offering a low-maintenance, fire-safe alternative to traditional timber weatherboard.

In this post, Plaster Wholesalers goes through the advantages of timber-look cladding, and how our team can supply you with Australia’s best cladding materials.

What is timber-look cladding?

Cladding, constructed from quality fibre cement, is an exterior building material that can emulate the look of many different materials, including timber, stone, concrete, brick, and terracotta. Timber-look cladding offers the same rustic charm of real timber without any of the drawbacks. High-quality cladding can last around 50 years with little maintenance required.

Perks of timber-look cladding

There are several advantages of timber-look cladding over traditional timber, especially when used for facades and aesthetic work:

• Enhanced durability
  Cladding offers better durability than timber. It’s more resistant to adverse weather conditions such as extreme UV and rain, and it won’t expand or contract like timber does. Linea weatherboard by James Hardie, for example, can easily last 50 years with the right maintenance, which is minimal in itself. Not only is timber-look cladding weather-resistant, it’s also termite- and moisture-resistant too.

• Low maintenance
  Timber-look cladding is ridiculously low-maintenance. Unlike timber, you don’t need to paint your fibre cement cladding every 12 months to protect its coat. The cladding itself has more resistance to the elements, meaning only intermittent cleaning is required.

• Fire-resistance
  Fibre cement cladding is the fire-safe option, with exceptional resistance to fire. Unlike timber, many cladding weatherboards like James Hardie’s Linea weatherboard adheres to bushfire attack level BAL40.

• Easy installation
  Where timber can be costly and time-consuming to install, timber-look cladding makes it easier than ever. Linea weatherboard, for example, can be installed where the fixings are concealed by the board above, helping to reduce patching and sanding. The boards are back-bevelled to sit flush with frames, which is far easier and more cost-effective to install than actual timber weatherboards.

• Extended warranties
  Timber may not come with a very long warranty, if any at all. That’s where timber-look cladding takes the cake, with some options coming with a warranty of up to 25 years – like Linea weatherboard by James Hardie.

Make the smart choice for your renovation or new build and choose a timber-look cladding from Plaster Wholesalers. We carry Victoria’s best range of plaster and cladding materials, including James Hardie’s famous Linea weatherboard. Pop in to our Hoppers Crossing and Somerton locations, or give us a call today.