Larch Cladding Options

[iSelfBuild]

Has anyone purchased T + G larch cladding recently. I'm keen to here feedback on suppliers, m2 prices etc.

I have just requested quotes from Russwood and SilvaTimber - particularly interested in the SIOO coating - http://www.silvatimber.co.uk/sioo-impregnation-solution.html

Looking for A grade, very little knots and preferably Siberian. I have 160m2 to vertically clad.

[jack]

We bought a fair bit of Siberian larch from Russwood about 6-9 months ago.  I can't remember exactly how much we got, but it was enough to cover a 3.5m high area that extends around three quarters of our 290m2 house.  I also can't remember the price (not much help, am I?!), although I do recall there was very little movement on the initial quote.  The quality of the wood was excellent - so much better (denser, fewer knots) than the Scottish stuff we got a sample of from another supplier.  

The one thing I will say is that some of the wood has darkened considerably since it was installed.  It almost looks like a surface mould.  I've been meaning to get back to them for weeks for advice about whether this is normal, and if not, what we can do about it.

 

Edited June 15, 2016 by jack
Supplier name corrected from Silva to Russwood

[Stones]

The darkened appearanceyou describe, is something I saw on virtually all timber clad buildings when I lived in Perthshire, something I put down to the cladding getting wet but not drying properly. The only reason I've felt confident enough to go with a partially timber clad house this time is the fact that there is always a light to moderate breeze up here, which combined with the salt air ( and judging by the timber clad houses we have looked at ) seems to do a great job of drying the cladding and weathering / silvering it down. What's your local micro climate like?

Richard, I'l try and remember and ask my builder where he is sourcing our cladding from.

[Crofter]

This may not be much help, but I'm sourcing my (Scottish) Larch direct from the sawmill. Considerably cheaper and they will cut to the size you want. Budget won't stretch to Siberian!

[jack]

1 hour ago, Stones said:

The darkened appearanceyou describe, is something I saw on virtually all timber clad buildings when I lived in Perthshire, something I put down to the cladding getting wet but not drying properly. The only reason I've felt confident enough to go with a partially timber clad house this time is the fact that there is always a light to moderate breeze up here, which combined with the salt air ( and judging by the timber clad houses we have looked at ) seems to do a great job of drying the cladding and weathering / silvering it down. What's your local micro climate like?

Richard, I'l try and remember and ask my builder where he is sourcing our cladding from.

This makes sense to me.  It's worst in areas that will have stayed wet the longest (and we've had some long wet periods since the cladding was installed, for sure!)  

I'm hoping that things might improve over summer, but will ask the supplier for more info anyway.  There might be something that can be painted on to kill mould/fungus (if that's what it is) or to bleach it slightly.

Edited to add: from doing a quick bit of research, it appears that initial discolouration is quite common and should fade over time.  I'll still check with the supplier though...

[Alex C]

Larch cladding in a decent grade is £28 - £32 per square meter. Price is pretty similar at all the main suppliers. Timber cladding will always weather differently depending on amount of exposure to sun and shading by trees or eaves. You tend to get the mildew black stain on the north elevation or under the shade of trees. It won't ever go away completely, but will look less obvious as the timber gradually turns silver. Sioo is meant to stop the mildew forming, speed up silvering of timber and also make it weather more evenly. Where timber cladding is sheltered under eaves or in window reveals it will always weather differently, and if it is a high tanin content timber you will get a brown tanin tide line which can look a bit of a mess. Sioo is meant to help with this, it would be worth seeing if it is something you can apply once the timber has already got stained. As a word of warning, larch is not really that suitable for tongue and groove, expecially if the tongue is quite small as larch moves a lot over the seasons and can split the tongue. Also look at half lap profiles as these are similar in appearance but allow for more movement. If you vertically clad you will get a black stain line where the planks butt up as the water will track up into the end of the timber. Best to have the house in a single plank top to bottom if possible.

[Jeremy Harris]

We sourced our larch cladding very locally, as in grown 6 miles away at Fonthill Estate, milled 3 miles away at Ansty Sawmill and delivered on a trailer behind a Landrover.  In the main it's not moved much, and is changing colour gradually from an almost orange/red when first put up to a silvery grey.  The East elevation is more grey than the South or West and the North is still looking quite red.  We get a lot of algae on the shaded path along the North side which indicates to me that it's probably always cool and damp there.  There's no sign of any black staining anywhere, even on this fairly damp North side.

I did design the house with larger than normal eaves and verge overhang and they are very effective at keeping a lot of the rain off - the top few feet of the walls never ever get wet, even in the heavy driving rain we've had earlier this week.  The North side in particular is well sheltered by having the high retaining wall only about 1.5m away from it, too.

The worst elevation for movement is the West, and this faces the prevailing wind and rain and I suspect gets a fair bit wetter than the other three sides.  The East elevation gets the most sun, which seems odd, but I think it's because the morning sun is powerful and by midday on a hot day there is often cloud or haze to reduce the impact of the sun.  By the same token it's the East facing windows that have the most solar gain.

Our larch is wide board waney edge, with boards typically between 200 and 350mm wide and 20mm thick.  The only place there's slight cupping is on one board on the West elevation, where I've had to add some screws to hold it back down.

It's a rustic finish, designed to look like many of the old local timber barns, but the cladding was cheap as chips, £9.90/m² inc VAT, £8.25/m² ex VAT.  It was around £2,150 ex VAT for all the cladding for the house and garage.  The labour to fit it was more costly than the timber.......................

[Crofter]

Jeremy, do you plan to treat your cladding at all? With the verge/eaves overhangs you describe I would expect uneven weathering to occur unless treated.

 

I actually prefer the reddish look of fresh cladding and am considering using some form of treatment to keep it that way. This shouldn't be too onerous given the small size of my build, and I can easily reach everywhere with a ladder.

[Calvinmiddle]

I got my Siberian Larch from Bennetts, they were by a good bit the most competitive on price.  But that was for PAR boards to do a board on board detail.  But they will cut it into a profile of you want.

My larch started off very pale, like a pine, then darkened down to an orange colour (a bit like Western Red Ceder) then it lightens up again to a bit darker that it's original pine colour before getting a silver colour, esp on the grain.

Dont really notice any variation at the eaves I have to say.  The colour change seems to be from exposure to the air.  By my kitchen widows there is a wall that has a 1.2m overhang and it faces north.  Wood changed colour there like the rest of the house.

[ProDave]

Re the "blackening" or darkening.

Another self builderr near here has clad his garage in larch and is planning the same for parts of the house. Some of the garage has got large areas of black staining already after just 6 months rather than turning silver. He describes it as "sap staining" and is in "discussions" with the supplier about the matter.

Personally I hate untreated "silver" timber, as it never weathers evenly. The small amount of timber cladding i will have on the sun rom will be treated (oiled probably) to try and keep it even and wood coloured.  Just about the only house I have ever seen where it "silvered" properly and evenly was one on Grand Designs at Dungeness. It had almost no overhangs and that coupled with the windy and probably dry costal climate helped, so Stones' house on Orkney may be the same.

[Jeremy Harris]

38 minutes ago, Crofter said:

Jeremy, do you plan to treat your cladding at all? With the verge/eaves overhangs you describe I would expect uneven weathering to occur unless treated.

 

I actually prefer the reddish look of fresh cladding and am considering using some form of treatment to keep it that way. This shouldn't be too onerous given the small size of my build, and I can easily reach everywhere with a ladder.

I've no intention of treating it for the next 20 years or so, based on advice from the chap at the local sawmill.  He reckons it should be fine for 20 years or so without treatment, then maybe use a clear preservative every few years after that.  We quite like the weathering and anyway the planners wanted it untreated (or more specifically the conservation officer).

Our larch was very garish when it was fresh, with a very red/orange look, that attracted a few adverse comments from people!

[iSelfBuild]

20 hours ago, jack said:

We bought a fair bit of Siberian larch from Russwood about 6-9 months ago.  I can't remember exactly how much we got, but it was enough to cover a 3.5m high area that extends around three quarters of our 290m2 house.  I also can't remember the price (not much help, am I?!), although I do recall there was very little movement on the initial quote.  The quality of the wood was excellent - so much better (denser, fewer knots) than the Scottish stuff we got a sample of from another supplier.  

The one thing I will say is that some of the wood has darkened considerably since it was installed.  It almost looks like a surface mould.  I've been meaning to get back to them for weeks for advice about whether this is normal, and if not, what we can do about it.

 

Thanks Jack, I have just received this from Russwood:

The prices for the profiles you mentioned are listed below (ex.VAT)

 

Siberian Larch A/B Grade

RW 060 £31.18/m²

RW 006 £30.00/m²

 

Siberian Larch A+ Grade

RW 060 £36.77/m²

RW 006 £35.38/m²

 

Scotlarch HW

                RW 060 £26.61/m²

                RW 101 £27.48/m²

               

Sioo treatment adds around £14/m² covered depending on the profile but as I mentioned this would involve a 6-7 week lead time.

Edited June 16, 2016 by iSelfBuild

[iSelfBuild]

18 hours ago, Stones said:

The darkened appearanceyou describe, is something I saw on virtually all timber clad buildings when I lived in Perthshire, something I put down to the cladding getting wet but not drying properly. The only reason I've felt confident enough to go with a partially timber clad house this time is the fact that there is always a light to moderate breeze up here, which combined with the salt air ( and judging by the timber clad houses we have looked at ) seems to do a great job of drying the cladding and weathering / silvering it down. What's your local micro climate like?

Richard, I'l try and remember and ask my builder where he is sourcing our cladding from.

Thanks Jason that would be appreciated!

[iSelfBuild]

I have also had a price from Silva:

Siberian larch - http://www.silvatimber.co.uk/cladding/siberian-larch-channel-cladding-21-x-146mm.html

£20.00 m2

The price seems pretty good, I will see if they do a half lap profile.

[iSelfBuild]

£200.00 lighter after buying 5 litres of Sioo wood protector and surface protector...

 

[Crofter]

Don't spill it!!