Why Composite Wood Cladding Beats Traditional Timber

Composite wood cladding is a must for specifiers looking to transform the exterior of their building space, improving on the more popular choice of traditional timber cladding. Composite wood cladding is made from composite material, which is composed of a mixture of recycled plastic fibres and timber shavings. This combination imbues the material with the strength and long-life of plastic, but retains the look and feel of real wood. But what are the advantages of opting for composite wood cladding over more traditional cladding materials? In this article, we will highlight the many benefits of NeoTimber’s composite wood cladding when compared with timber, from the range of designs available, to its overall longevity. Let’s take a look.

Timber cladding looks great, but it can be a lot of work. Unless your timber has been pressure treated prior to purchasing, its likely that you may have to spend some time laboriously staining and painting the surface of the material to lock out moisture and get the colour you want for your outdoor space. Even once these coasts of paint and varnish are applied, it will have to done again and again, as these protective layers are stripped away over the year. Without proper treatment, traditional timber can rapidly bleach under the glare of direct sunlight, or absorb moisture during the wetter seasons. Moisture especially can result in long term damage to your cladding, causing warping, splintering, and in the worst case scenarios, rotting.

In comparison, composite wood cladding is a more weatherproof solution, meaning you do not have to spend any time painting or preserving its surface. Our Deluxe and Slatted ranges of cladding have an additional protective layer of capped polymer, which locks the moisture out, keeping it from damaging the composite material within. This also makes it easy to clean, as any staining can be simply scrubbed away with a sponge and a bucket of hot, soapy water. Furthermore, unlike with timber, all of our capped material comes supplied with UV inhibitors, which keeps our premium colours from fading. This helps your cladding look newer for longer; all without you picking up a paintbrush.

At NeoTimber®, we offer 3 different textures for our composite wood cladding. These include our Classic Composite Cladding, which has a sanded texture, and our Deluxe texture, which is designed to look and feel more like real woodgrain. Our Slatted boards are perfect for a more uniform, linear design, as they have been made to look like stacked individual wooden battens. The Classic cladding is our first generation composite, whereas our Deluxe and Slatted boards have an additional capped layer, for further protection.

For further customisation, we have designed our cladding so it can be installed vertically, as well as horizontally. We recommend that you use our visualiser to see how our cladding boards could look for your own projects. All of our boards can be used for a broad range of ideas, including cladding an outdoor room, for cladding interior and exterior fascia walls, and to decorate the front of your home or business.

All of our cladding can be bought in a broad range of colours, with our Classic available in 4 tones, and our Deluxe and Slatted available in 5. These include the natural toned Teak and Chocolate, the modern Grey and Charcoal, and the soft, neutral Antique. This is another advantage of composite wood cladding over timber; the colour is dyed into the material of the boards itself, meaning you do not have to paint (and repaint) your cladding project with your desired tone.

Another benefit is that these colours are designed to match our pre-existing decking, balustrade and fencing ranges, helping you to create a seamless full NeoTimber® solution for any outdoor project. Again, you can use our visualiser to see how each colour of our cladding will look when installed, or order our free samples to see the quality of the products for yourself, and compare the ranges.

To conclude, there are many ways that composite wood cladding outperforms natural timber. Structually, its longevity puts it a cut above traditional timber, as the capped surface of our Deluxe and Slatted boards help to protect the material from the damaging effects of moisture. There is also more scope in terms of design. With 3 different textures and 5 colours to choose from, NeoTimber’s cladding is the smart, modern solution to fascia your home or business space. Stop the time consuming tasks of painting and staining, and enjoy high-quality cladding from your first day of installation.