Larch Cladding- treatment options

[Stones]

I hadn't realised that treating with Sioo meant you would end up with a weathered finish. Seems similar in some respects to treating lead with patination oil - controls and evens the weathering and prevents some of the problems associated with untreated an untreated finish.

[Trw144]

I m probably going for Vincent timbers - new age gris, available in cedar or larch. This has a grey weathered finished that is meant to last years and years. Certainly the wood on my my local cinema which has been clad in it looks exactly the same as it did two years ago.

[Stones]

Rob, re-reading your first post, what kind of treated look are you actually after?  I'd always assumed (shows how wrong one can be) that a treated finish meant either a opaque coloured /painted finish or a clear finish to retain the freshly milled colour of the cladding.  

 

As per my last post, it's good to see there is an option which facilitates weathering, although reading through the Q&A's it's clear cladding may still suffer from green and black algae growth etc - as it is a mitigating product rather than a total solution.  

 

The other question is lifespan.  Up to 15 years, which I would seriously doubt as a lifespan in the marine climate up here [having seen painted timber stripped back to bare wood on a few houses last winter (after a couple of wind driven hail storms)], which means at some point you have to decide whether to re-apply or live with the finish as it is and the potential for the problematic issues this product seeks to mitigate, to appear on your cladding?  

[ProDave]

Can I throw an off the ball idea into the ring.

 

My sun room will be the only part of my house clad in timber, and there won't be very much as it's mostly glass anyway.

 

So I had been wondering about cladding it in fencing planks, you know the planks available as 4" and 6" wide and probably 3/4 inch thick.  The thinking is unlike "normal" cladding that's just plain sawn timber, these are impregnated throughout with tanalising (SP?) to prevent them rotting and it certainly slows down the weathering process as well.  There is still nothing to stop you treating them as well if you want to.


 

[Stones]

I suppose the only negatives of using treated fencing timber are the greenish tinge it has when it first goes up, and that it is rough sawn rather than smooth finish. 

 

That said it does always seem to weather quite well, or certainly has where I've used it to construct outbuildings etc. That may be down to a much better air flow round the timber than you would achieve if cladding a house with only a small ventilation cavity behind the cladding.

[gravelld]

What about thermowood?

[DavidFrancis]

1 hour ago, Stones said:

I suppose the only negatives of using treated fencing timber are the greenish tinge

 

 

THe BM I use sells brown treated fencing boards (and these come from East Lothian).  Used some on a shed and after three years in a very shaded position they've turned a nice-enough honey colour.

 

I used feather edge board & it's only £4.80/sq m

Edited August 18, 2016 by DavidFrancis

[Crofter]

4 hours ago, Stones said:

Rob, re-reading your first post, what kind of treated look are you actually after?  I'd always assumed (shows how wrong one can be) that a treated finish meant either a opaque coloured /painted finish or a clear finish to retain the freshly milled colour of the cladding.  

 

As per my last post, it's good to see there is an option which facilitates weathering, although reading through the Q&A's it's clear cladding may still suffer from green and black algae growth etc - as it is a mitigating product rather than a total solution.  

 

The other question is lifespan.  Up to 15 years, which I would seriously doubt as a lifespan in the marine climate up here [having seen painted timber stripped back to bare wood on a few houses last winter (after a couple of wind driven hail storms)], which means at some point you have to decide whether to re-apply or live with the finish as it is and the potential for the problematic issues this product seeks to mitigate, to appear on your cladding?  

 

Good points. I do rather prefer the fresh colour of newly sawn larch, but to be honest I'm happy to go with whatever option provides a decent even finish at an acceptable upfront cost and/or ongoing time/cost to maintain. What I want to avoid is the neglected look that some larch-clad properties up here have, e.g. uneven weathering under shaded overhangs, streaks and patches of black or green, etc. I'm still researching options and had, like yourself, assumed that any sort of treatment meant sticking with the original colour, or close to.

 

In terms of lifespan, I know more about marine finishes (paint, varnish) than other types, but for these the main factors are UV exposure and frost. I hadn't really thought about driving hail as a mechanical process, but I suppose it must have an effect.

[Crofter]

3 hours ago, gravelld said:

What about thermowood?

 

In a different league, pricewise. A bit late for me as I ordered my larch yesterday!

[Stones]

10 minutes ago, Crofter said:

 

Good points. I do rather prefer the fresh colour of newly sawn larch, but to be honest I'm happy to go with whatever option provides a decent even finish at an acceptable upfront cost and/or ongoing time/cost to maintain. What I want to avoid is the neglected look that some larch-clad properties up here have, e.g. uneven weathering under shaded overhangs, streaks and patches of black or green, etc. I'm still researching options and had, like yourself, assumed that any sort of treatment meant sticking with the original colour, or close to.

 

In terms of lifespan, I know more about marine finishes (paint, varnish) than other types, but for these the main factors are UV exposure and frost. I hadn't really thought about driving hail as a mechanical process, but I suppose it must have an effect.

 

We have always wanted to use timber cladding, but examples we had previously seen in Perthshire were always troubled with black growth.  The examples I have seen up here don't seem to suffer, which I can only put down to the exposed climate- plenty of wind to dry the cladding off.    Are the neglected looking properties you have seen in exposed or sheltered locations?

[gravelld]

3 hours ago, Crofter said:

 

In a different league, pricewise. A bit late for me as I ordered my larch yesterday!

Got a kiln? ;-) 

[Crofter]

So, my larch is now onsite and I can no longer put off the decision on treatment.

By my estimation, I have 120m2 to treat- this is the front face only of the back layer of boards, and the front plus sides of the boards that will go on the top layer.

 

I'm getting pretty bewildered by all of the options available. Sioo works out at about £850 which is just too much- about the same as the wood cost itself. It would have to have magical properties for me to justify spending that much. Plus, as has been said, it is an accelerated weathering system and what I really want is to preserve the fresh cut look.

 

Next in line are Osmo products- either two coats of the UV Oil, or a base coat plus the UV oil on top. Either way works out at about £450. I am inclined to go for the two different products as they have quite different jobs to do and it works out about the same cost.

 

Then we enter the world of cheaper finishes with more recognisable names, e.g. Ronseal, Barrettine. There are a wide range of products available including ones for log cabins, which sounds fine, but what I need to do is avoid cheap and nasty stuff that might only be suitable for a garden shed. These products would work out around £300-£350.

 

Comparing the different products is tedious as the coverage and number of coats varies, so you have to be methodical and work out the total cost for each option. I'm starting to see the appeal of leaving it untreated!!

[K78]

I love black timber cladding. 

 

Ive been looking into different options and there are a lot to choose from. Products seem very similar and are difficult to compare. 

[Onoff]

What's the black stuff Barney12 used on his workshop / bat roost? Looks really good.

[Crofter]

Hmm, maybe we should ask @Barney12 ...

 

I would have to run it past the planners, as I said I would be going for a natural finish.

[Barney12]

23 minutes ago, Crofter said:

Hmm, maybe we should ask @Barney12 ...

 

I would have to run it past the planners, as I said I would be going for a natural finish.

 

Workshop doors and windows are coated in Teknos Aquatop. https://www.teknos.co.uk/brands-and-products/

It's a very good product and what Rationel use on their windows. Not cheap though 

 

if your serious about doing you cladding in black in black then there is good old 'barn paint' by Bedec. Plenty of farmers swear by it. 

[Onoff]

+1 on the Bedec. I did in fact enthuse about it in Barney's thread:

 

Bedec covers like nothing I've ever seen but I'm still not sure if it sits on top or penetrates.

 

Saying that there's a half timber clad place along the road from me been up circa 25 years now. I knew the original owner / builder who was an architect. He put me onto Sadolin way back when. I went off of it mainly because of the drying time. Anyway,  the wood on the place still looks pristine. 

[Crofter]

Thanks, to be honest I'm not sold on the black look. Not really part of the vernacular around here, although the planners are fairly open minded IMHO.

I want to avoid using any sort of traditional paint as it would be much higher maintenance than an oil or stain and the wood is not smooth enough.

 

Leading contender at the moment is probably the Barrettine stuff. I'm concerned that the rough sawn planks will drink up whatever I put on them, so I need to go for something fairly cheap and cheerful.

 

For initial application, I am going to lay out all of the planks inside the wind and watertight shell of the building so I will not be held hostage by the weather (it has been known to rain occasionally on Skye).

[Ferdinand]

What a lot of possibilities.

 

My thoughts were around marine products, or scorching it (itching to see someone on here do that), or even something like Tar Varnish as used for the bottom of boats.

https://www.promain.co.uk/black-tar-varnish-for-narrow-boats-6886.html

 

But then you said "no blacks" :-( .

 

Perhaps as it is a rough surface you might actually spray it on?

 

Ferdinand

 

Edited October 9, 2016 by Ferdinand

[Onoff]

I was recently looking for "cheap" for the kid's treehouse spiral staircase treads and ended up with Sfix No Nonsense Wood Treatment in Dark Brown. Quite impressed tbh.  Quite tarry going on and good coverage. Almost black:

 

 

[Ferdinand]

How about doing a ring of planks with each type up the house, then you can give us a definitive conclusion in 10 years time for when I'm ready to start my self-build?

 

(Gets coat)

[K78]

13 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

What a lot of possibilities.

 

My thoughts were around marine products, or scorching it (itching to see someone on here do that), or even something like Tar Varnish as used for the bottom of boats.

https://www.promain.co.uk/black-tar-varnish-for-narrow-boats-6886.html

 

But then you said "no blacks" :-( .

 

Perhaps as it is a rough surface you might actually spray it on?

 

Ferdinand

 

I wish I could afford the scorched/charred cladding from here   http://www.shousugiban.co.uk/burnt_larch_cladding.php

Edited October 9, 2016 by K78

[PeterW]

7 minutes ago, K78 said:

I wish I could afford the scorched/charred cladding from here   http://www.shousugiban.co.uk/burnt_larch_cladding.php

 

Why does that look like it's going to be a 3 figure per square metre price .....???

[Ferdinand]

7 minutes ago, K78 said:

I wish I could afford the scorched/charred cladding from here   http://www.shousugiban.co.uk/burnt_larch_cladding.php

 

I thought this process was relatively easy to DIY.

IIRC the chap with the bungalow-in-the-woods on the IoW in GD did so.

 

F

[K78]

34 minutes ago, PeterW said:

 

Why does that look like it's going to be a 3 figure per square metre price .....???

Wouldn't even give a price over the phone. Never a good sign in my experience. Asked me to send my plans over. 

 

Im on a tight budget. 

35 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

 

I thought this process was relatively easy to DIY.

IIRC the chap with the bungalow-in-the-woods on the IoW in GD did so.

 

F

 

I'd end up with an expensive pile of ashes