British Timber Cladding (cedar v larch)

[Kernow]

Has anyone got any experience of using British Grown western red cedar or larch cladding?

 

original plans for our new build were Canadian Western Red Cedar, but now that costs around £100 sq m we are looking at other options. 
 

Both British Grown Cedar and larch come in at about the right cost, but I am concerned about the knot frequency/size on both. 
 

How unstable is British grown larch? I am assuming cedar is the more stable. 
 

Which has the most consistent weathering when left untreated?

 

Any experiences would be great. 
Thanks

[JohnMo]

This is Scottish Larch, installed last May, and oiled a week before the photo a couple of weeks ago.

 

[jamieled]

I can only comment on Larch, as that's what we have. Using local timber was one of the main factors in our decision. Weathering seems relatively consistent on a given aspect, but different between the aspects (i.e. SW facing has weathered more).

 

Some folk make a big deal out of the timber origin, and while it's important, so is the planned cladding orientation and fixing method. We had a few banana boards in the cladding stack that were no use. Larch is slightly prone to cupping, but if you double nail each board and ensure the inner/outer boards have their grain correctly orientated (If you're using board on board) this works to your advantage.

[JamesP]

I have used locally (South Devon) sourced Western red cedar, definitely knottier than imported. These boards are 20mm x 195mm. You can see the difference in colour after a year being installed.