What brick colour goes well with cedar cladding?

[bgmill]

Our design currently consists of a mix of cedar wood cladding and brickwork but we're struggling to find the correct colour brick. We don't like traditional red brick and favour a more greyish colour that mimics stone from a distance (so has some light/dark variance throughout).

 

Recommendations welcome!

[Makeitstop]

Have you googled "houses with brick and cedar"? It will likely offer some inspiration.

 

However.....

 

Cedar will turn to greyish eventually. That may be worth keeping in mind.

 

The lovely warm colour of it is difficult to hold on to and surface treatments, while helpful, are only likely to do so much to limit that

 

 

[bgmill]

Tracking down the brick used in the images is the hard part.

 

I've asked a few of our friends/family who have built their own houses for the names of their bricks and they look completely different online to what they do in the flesh so it seems a bit hit and miss on what you end up with!

[Makeitstop]

Have you got a rough idea of brick colour? 

 

If so, go get a varied handful from a supplier and take them to a timber supplier or joinery that has some cedar for you to place against.

 

Better still, buy a piece of cedar so you are able to try at home with whatever bricks you can get that you may like.

[saveasteading]

Have you committed to cedar?

 

Cedar is only lovely reddish brown for a fairly short time (when the publicity pics are taken) , then changes over a couple of years to silvery  grey, often  with coloured stains at fixings depending on the metal. It can look very patchy in that transition period.

 

Otherwise seal it, with something appropriate to the oily wood, and do  it promptly, before the greying starts.

 

I heard from an importer that cedar is marketed as if we were in Canada, where they don't have the mild, damp winters that cause the issues for us.

 

If you like the reddish cedar colour, then I would use pine, at 1/4 the price, and stain to the colour of your choice with the best stains. 

The colour remains for 10 years in sun, and more in shade.

Stain applied either before fixing, or after some shrinking has occurred as joints will open. and show bare wood.

 

'Oak' colour barely changes the pine colour, but it gets a nice sheen and stays that colour. Other colours will darken it, and may need 2 coats.

 

Colour charts from sikkens or sadolins for brick comparison.

[saveasteading]

Thought I should check it isn't just my opinion. 

Here is a cedar clad building under 3 years old http://thehelpfulengineer.com/index.php/2010/11/the-problem-with-cedar-cladding/

 

The comments below the article are very interesting too.

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by saveasteading

[bgmill]

We haven't committed to any specific timber yet no, but the architect has mentioned a product to expedite the "weathering" process for cedar to get it to a uniform silver more quickly as patchiness was an initial concern of ours.

 

I will investigate some more on potential treatments before we commit fully.

[saveasteading]

I have never understood the attraction of western red cedar in the uk, other than it looks nice for a while.

(I don't know about uk cedar)

 

Marketed as insect and rot-proof, but so is tanalised / protimised pine.

Nice and pink in all the brochures, grey soon in reality, with possible stains.

Stainless steel fixings required.

Unsuitable for polluted areas.

Expensive

 

I'd be interested to hear an alternative argument.

 

[bgmill]

Yeah the silver/grey that cedar ages to is what the attraction was for us but certainly after doing some research we will want to be treating it to ensure the aging is uniform. I have a neighbour that has a 10 yr old garden office clad in cedar which still looks great so I will pop over and ask him what, if anything, he used on it.