A Beginner’s Guide to Black Painted Timber Cladding
With its striking appearance, black painted timber cladding can make your building project stand out from the crowd. A bold, modern twist on the timber cladding aesthetic, painted cladding can also make maintenance virtually non-existent.
With decades of experience in timber cladding, NORclad are here to help you make the best choice for your next project. We provide FSC and PEFC certified timber products that are as eye-friendly as they are eco-friendly for a range of different building types.
Choosing the right cladding is an important decision for any project, determining the finished look and feel of the building. With a huge variety of options available, it can be hard to know what to go for.
In this beginner’s guide, we talk you through black painted timber cladding and why it might be the right option for you.
Why Use Black Painted Cladding?
The decision to use black painted timber cladding is often an aesthetic one. For example, the black cladding we provided for a contemporary house development called Skyridge was chosen so the property could blend into its environment and yet still be visually arresting.
Wood, though available in a variety of shades, has a certain ‘look’. Painted cladding, on the other hand, allows your project more creative freedom. As well as black, NORclad have plenty of painted finishes available, from standard to full RAL colours.
Find out more about painted cladding >
As it is a natural material, though, wood does dry out and age over time meaning cladding will occasionally require a little upkeep to help it stay looking flawless.
Painting timber cladding can maintain the original look of the building as timber will typically weather to a silver/grey relatively quickly without a coating. On top of this, a painted coating will offer protection against weathering, UV deterioration, cracking and – especially if you choose a dark colour like black – the growth and presence of mould and algae.
Read more: How to Protect Wood/Timber From the Elements >
Read more: Timber Cladding Maintenance – Tips and Advice >
What Types of Timber Cladding Can Be Painted?
Not all woods work well as painted timber cladding. The best species will be smooth allowing for a consistent finish, with as few knots as possible.
Some of the species of wood we provide as painted cladding here at NORclad include:
- Swiss White Fir
- Siberian Larch
- Thermowood
- Thermally Modified Meranti
Factory Painted Cladding
Pre-painted cladding is often the best choice for most projects, and we provide plenty of different options depending on the scale of the building. Factory painting is done in a controlled environment, providing consistency of finish. As well as this, it saves labour time and money as the cladding can be coated with maximum efficiency.
To produce our high-quality, sustainable range of black painted cladding, the wood is kiln dried ensuring a consistent product. The boards can then be hand-selected for quality and are machined before being primed and coated in black paint.
How to Paint Timber Cladding
While we recommend factory painted cladding, if you already have some cladding in place that you want to revamp, painting in situ is a great way to extend your timber’s life. Here is a short guide explaining how to go about it.
- Scrub the surface of the cladding with a brush and hose down to lift off mould and algae that might have accumulated over the years.
- Scrape off any loose paint if there has been a previous coating, as this might get in the way of a smooth finish.
- Fill any holes or imperfections in the cladding and allow the filler to dry completely before you continue.
- Sand the boards, working horizontally in small sections at a time. The aim is to get the boards as smooth as possible so the paint can be applied evenly.
- Now, the cladding is ready to coat. Apply a suitable primer beforehand and then your paint of choice. Make sure the type of paint you use works well on the species of wood in question, and that it is suitable for outdoor use if your cladding is on the exterior of the building.
High-Quality Painted Timber Cladding From NORclad
The team at NORclad are experts in cladding. We’re passionate about championing the use of wood for all sorts of building ventures because its eco-credentials far exceed that of other building materials – and it looks great too!
We’ve been supplying specialist timber products for over 40 years and are on hand to advise you, whatever the project. Get in touch with our friendly team today.
