Composite Cladding vs Wood Cladding Which Is Better?
Cladding your home with a good cladding material is the right thing to do if you want your exterior wall to last longer. But there are several cladding materials available for use today in the market. Some of those materials are composite cladding and wood cladding. Most homeowners are used to wood or timber cladding while some are hearing about composite cladding for the first time. This write-up explains the question, composite cladding vs wood cladding, which is better?
What Is Composite Cladding?
Composite cladding is a synthetic cladding material that is suitable for use if you want to clad the exterior wall of your home. This cladding material is made with recycled stuff such as wood fibre and plastic. That is why most house owners called it plastic wood cladding.
What Is Wood Cladding?
Unlike composite cladding that contains wood and plastic, wood or timber cladding contains only wood. There are two kinds of timber cladding. There are the pressure-treated timber and the hardwood cladding. The pressure-treated wood cladding contains chemicals that makes it durable, while hardwood does not contain chemicals.
Comparing Composite Cladding With Wood Cladding
To discern if the composite cladding is better than wood cladding, let us examine their attributes.
Durability
Wood Cladding
Timber cladding is durable, but with time it loses its durability. There are two kinds of timber cladding. Softwood cladding is not naturally strong, and so it needs chemicals to make it firm. What the chemicals do in wood cladding is squeeze the excess liquid out of it and make it firm.
So, with chemicals softwood cladding becomes durable. Hardwood is naturally firm, so it does not require chemicals. But the problem with timber cladding is that when you have used it for some time, your timber will become less durable. Termite will eat it.
Also, wood cladding will absorb moisture from the environment and swell. After swelling, timber cladding will rot. If timber doesn’t rot, it will splinter when it dries.
Composite Cladding
Since composite cladding is a synthetic material, they are more durable than timber. Composite cladding does not require chemicals to make it strong. This implies that composite cladding will not absorb as much liquid as wood cladding. So, plastic wood cladding will not rot or splinter. Also, plastic wood cladding will not warp like wood cladding.
This is because the fluctuating temperature will not affect your plastic wood cladding. Aside from that, insects like termite cannot destroy your composite cladding. This makes composite cladding more durable than the wood cladding.
Maintenance
Wood Cladding
Wood cladding fair badly when it comes to maintenance. Timber is a material that is difficult to keep. This is because insects like termites and other wood-eating bugs will eat into wood. That is why owners of wood cladding must seal, stain or paint their wood cladding to keep such insects away.
Aside from that, wood cladding also fades quickly. This means that to keep your wood cladding beautiful, you must give it a good pigment. Before you paint your timber cladding, you have to sand it first.
Some wood cladding makers have argued that wood is easy to paint. They count painting wood as a benefit. That wood cladding is easy to paint might seem like a benefit, but it is not.
Composite Cladding
Let’s start with painting composite cladding. Plastic wood cladding does not require painting at all. This is because composite cladding has lots of beautiful colours that make it attractive. There is grey, brown, red, anthracite grey, and oak composite cladding.
One thing about composite cladding colour is that it will not fade quickly like wood cladding. Your composite cladding will lose only a small amount of colour when you use it for a long time. This means that you don’t have to paint your plastic wood cladding every year like you will a wood cladding.
No painting means no sanding. Also, you don’t have to expend your time maintaining your composite cladding. All you should do to clean it is use a cloth and wipe dirt from the surface.
Aesthetic Value
Wood Cladding
Wood cladding has only the wood look. This means that it is not as attractive as composite cladding. If you desire a different colour, you have to give your wood cladding a good amount of pigment to change its colour.
Composite Cladding
Plastic wood cladding comes in an array of colour. You can select a cladding colour that suits you. Also, the composite cladding colour will not fade quickly. Another thing about composite cladding is that it is more attractive than the wood cladding. Also, composite cladding can be made to look like wood.
Conclusion
Composite cladding vs wood cladding, which is better? If you consider the attributes of composite cladding and wood cladding, you will understand that composite cladding is better than wood.