Which house cladding option

[Amateur bob]

Which of the 2 of these looks best the wood or the dark grey/black one?

 

Thanks

[Mike]

The wood, especially after it has toned down to a light grey.

[Indy]

Prefer the first one. 

[DownSouth]

Prefer the black one. I have built a fully black clad house though so am biased towards it. I’d worry that wood will weather differently under those eaves so might end up looking patchy. 

[Gone West]

10 hours ago, Amateur bob said:

Which of the 2 of these looks best the wood or the dark grey/black one?

Depends what sort of wood it is, and what if any, surface treatment you intend to use. I would use Cedral myself.

[Amateur bob]

Ill need to ask builder what sort of wood it is but itll need treated? the wood ones already on i got google gemini to adapt it to the colour builders planning to paint it, im still undecided

[Amateur bob]

The gable is white if that makes any difference

[Nickfromwales]

8 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

Ill need to ask builder what sort of wood it is but itll need treated? the wood ones already on i got google gemini to adapt it to the colour builders planning to paint it, im still undecided

The wood ‘type’ should be in your architect’s spec, as I assume the builders get direction / instruction from somewhere? 

Hopefully it’s something hardy, like cedar.

 

Oh; Opt 1. Black / dark version makes the house too gloomy imho.

[Mr Punter]

I would go white or light grey.  Needs properly coating but even so you will be up there every 6 years to redo.  How did you sort out your downpipes in the end?

[Tony L]

The natural wood colour looks the best of those two pictures.  It suits the house.

 

Normally, I prefer black, but it needs to be on the right kind of house.  With black, you can be confident it’s going to retain the same look for many years.  With the natural wood, anything can happen – perhaps not, if you really know what you’re doing, but it seems most people don’t know (or perhaps the builders just don’t care).  I don’t like it when natural wood cladding turns grey.  I see a lot of wood cladding weathers badly & can look damp towards the bottom.  I particularly dislike the “damp at the bottom” look I see on a lot of natural wood cladding – it looks just like a cheap garden shed to me, & that’s not a great look for a house.

[saveasteading]

I prefer the top picture but it won't stay like that unless treated. My choice is spruce then treated with 'light oak' Sadolin so it keeps that look.

Others like grey, but have you noticed that Architects always show newly built properties, never the greyed or mouldy result. I should say seldom/ rarely.

[Mike]

3 hours ago, Amateur bob said:

The gable is white if that makes any difference

For me that makes a big difference.

 

From your first images it was believable that this may have been a single storey building that had had a second floor added. From an angle that illusion is blown - it now looks like a house with two types of decorative cladding on the front. To regain some visual cohesion I'd probably forget the wood and render the upper portion to match the side, though it's not an ideal solution.

 

Edited yesterday at 11:28 by Mike

[JohnMo]

First pic, but treated so it doesn't go grey. Black looks awful, doesn't look finished

[Gone West]

4 hours ago, Amateur bob said:

Ill need to ask builder what sort of wood it is but itll need treated?

Western Red Cedar doesn't need any treatment to stop rot and lasts for around seventy years. It will go grey without any surface treatment, which some people like and some don't. You will find the rain washed areas go grey quicker than the weather protected areas, so can look patchy until it all evens up, which can take years.

[Amateur bob]

46 minutes ago, Gone West said:

Western Red Cedar doesn't need any treatment to stop rot and lasts for around seventy years. It will go grey without any surface treatment, which some people like and some don't. You will find the rain washed areas go grey quicker than the weather protected areas, so can look patchy until it all evens up, which can take years.

it was intended to be painting so looks like pine

 

[Crofter]

Having seen the view including the gable, definitely go for the natural wood colour.

I'm surprised this isn't a planning condition though?

[saveasteading]

6 minutes ago, Crofter said:

 

I'm surprised this isn't a planning condition though

If it's on the drawing then that is what is approved.

[saveasteading]

On t&g spruce. It moves , so I discovered it is best to stain it before fixing.

One coat of sickens light oak is almost invisible, which is the point really. It then dies to leave a light gloss.

After 5 years the colour is much the same, ie no fading. After 10 years  esp south facing there is fading but still no grey.

 

FYI we also used a very dark brown called dark palisander. After 10 years it is largely the same on north faces but on need of a re-coat facing the sun, for aesthetics not durability.  In-between colours we never did.

 

On the steading I was over-ruled and it is cedar, which is fading , but fairly consistently (still coloured where shadows protect it) and attractively so.

 

Be very careful to use fixings which don't react with cedar....it can look awful.

[Crofter]

1 hour ago, saveasteading said:

On t&g spruce. It moves , so I discovered it is best to stain it before fixing.

One coat of sickens light oak is almost invisible, which is the point really. It then dies to leave a light gloss.

After 5 years the colour is much the same, ie no fading. After 10 years  esp south facing there is fading but still no grey.

 

FYI we also used a very dark brown called dark palisander. After 10 years it is largely the same on north faces but on need of a re-coat facing the sun, for aesthetics not durability.  In-between colours we never did.

 

On the steading I was over-ruled and it is cedar, which is fading , but fairly consistently (still coloured where shadows protect it) and attractively so.

 

Be very careful to use fixings which don't react with cedar....it can look awful.

Does that mean stainless?

That's the advice I followed on my larch and it still looks good nearly ten years on.

[gamestrolley]

Stone right up to the eaves and do away with the gable and domers, simpler is nicer and cheaper

[saveasteading]

Diversion. Seen the news today on failed external insulation ? Appalling..

Find it on bbc news online.

I never did trust 'trustmark'.

I wonder how many of the cowboys will be held to account.

[Redoctober]

11 hours ago, gamestrolley said:

Stone right up to the eaves and do away with the gable and domers, simpler is nicer and cheaper

 

Like this I guess. 

[Tetrarch]

If you want maintenance-free then you could do a lot worse than Millboard. I used Cedral on a prevous house (both outside and as a bath panel) and it is a great product, but is definitely "just a concrete board"

 

https://www.millboard.com/en-gb/composite-cladding-collections/board-batten/golden-oak/MCBF360G

 

The millboard cladding is astonishingly realistic, and is really good for mitre-ing. The only downside is that it is NOT cheap. Other cladding boards are available,but when you compare them close-up the Millboard is a cut above.

My critical criteria was waterproofing as I wanted to add a rain chain and they do splash a bit. I attach some during and after installation photos

Regards

Tet

  

[Amateur bob]

On 13/10/2025 at 14:41, Crofter said:

Having seen the view including the gable, definitely go for the natural wood colour.

I'm surprised this isn't a planning condition though?

how do u mean planning condition? as in what colour it had to be?

[Amateur bob]

3 hours ago, Tetrarch said:

If you want maintenance-free then you could do a lot worse than Millboard. I used Cedral on a prevous house (both outside and as a bath panel) and it is a great product, but is definitely "just a concrete board"

 

https://www.millboard.com/en-gb/composite-cladding-collections/board-batten/golden-oak/MCBF360G

 

The millboard cladding is astonishingly realistic, and is really good for mitre-ing. The only downside is that it is NOT cheap. Other cladding boards are available,but when you compare them close-up the Millboard is a cut above.

My critical criteria was waterproofing as I wanted to add a rain chain and they do splash a bit. I attach some during and after installation photos

Regards

Tet

  

i should have clarified the wood cladding is already on, just deciding whether to paint it now