Is Composite Weatherboard Better Than Timber?

When looking to add cladding to the exterior of your property, composite weatherboard is the ideal choice. Though timber remains an incredibly popular design choice, it is not able to perform to the same high standards as composite material. Moisture resistant, long-life, low maintenance, and available in a range of different colours and textures, it’s of little wonder more and more suppliers are specifying composite weatherboard instead of other alternatives. In this article, we will explore how composite weatherboard compares to timber cladding, to help you to make the smart decision for your property or business space. Let’s take a look.

Timber cladding imbues a real sense of naturalistic design flair, and can help the shell of your building space look far more visually interesting. However, these advantages are often short lived. As a natural material, timber can become damaged due to the effects of weathering, with the colour fading due to prolonged exposure to sunlight. Though some timber cladding is pre-treated with preservatives, these tend to be on the more expensive side of the price range.

Many designers specify timber cladding because it is often cheaper than composite weatherboard from its initial installation. While this is true, it is important to consider composite weatherboard as more of an investment. Rotten, faded cladding that appears to be falling apart will need to be replaced, at some time and cost. In contrast, all of NeoTimber’s composite weatherboard options are extremely long-life, backed up with our unbeatable 25-year residential warranty, and 10-year commercial warranty.

Beyond its longevity, there are also design advantages to specifying composite weatherboard over timber cladding. Timber cladding can be any colour you choose, though you will have to likely manually paint it yourself, a process that is labour intensive, time consuming, and expensive. Composite weatherboard, in comparison, can be purchased in one of five distinct colours; Antique, Teak, Charcoal, Grey, and Chocolate. Both Chocolate and Teak can help you retain the natural look of real timber cladding, whereas Charcoal, Grey, and Antique give you a more modern, attention-grabbing alternative.

Furthermore, our range of composite weatherboard gives you the option of three separate textures. The Classic range has a subtle, sanded, feel, whereas the Deluxe range is etched with a realistic woodgrain pattern. Finally, the Slatted range is designed to look like stacked, timber battens, helping you to maintain that traditional cladding aesthetic, but for far longer. We hope this answers your question, that yes, for our money, composite weatherboard is a far better choice than timber cladding.