Cedar Cladding

What cedar cladding is and when to choose it

Cedar cladding is a skin of western red cedar boards fixed over the outside walls of a house or extension. Our cedar comes from British Columbia in Canada and is graded Clear Heart Vertical Grain, the top commercial grade, so the grain runs straight and tight with very few knots. It is Durability Class 2 on a scale that runs from Class 1, the most naturally resistant to rot, down to Class 5, so it resists rot, insects and fungal decay with no chemical treatment at all.

Its other big advantage is weight. At around 380 kg per cubic metre it is the lightest board we stock, so one person can handle long lengths and the load on the battens stays low. Cedar is the wrong choice where the wall will take knocks, such as beside a driveway, because its soft surface marks more easily than a hardwood. It also needs stainless fixings, as its tannins stain black against mild steel.

Cedar cladding boards, trims and shingles

The range covers the whole wall: boards for the face, angles for the corners and shingles for a textured finish. Every piece is western red cedar, so the colour and grain match from one part of the job to the next.

Cedar tongue and groove boards

Our cedar boards are 94×18 mm tongue and groove (T&G): a tongue on one edge locks into a groove on the next, so the wall reads as one flush face and the joints stay tight. They can run vertically or horizontally, on anything from a single-storey wall to a tall gable. You choose the length on the product page, and matching it to your wall means less cutting and fewer end joints: shorter boards suit garden walls, bays and the panels under and between windows, mid-length boards suit single-storey walls fixed vertically and shorter horizontal runs, and longer boards give long horizontal runs and tall gables the fewest end joints.

Cedar L angles for corners

Corners are where cladding looks finished or doesn’t. Our cedar L angles are 44×44 mm and fit internal or external corners so the board ends are covered, in the same timber as the boards so the corners weather with the wall.

Western red cedar shingles

Shingles are small tapered pieces of cedar laid in overlapping courses, for a textured, scaled finish instead of long lines. Our western red cedar shingles are sold in bundles, and each bundle covers 2.32 m². That is a fixed pack size, like a roll, so you order shingles by the bundle rather than by the piece. Cedar ridge shingles finish the ridge of a roof. The exposure, the part of each shingle left showing, is set by the pitch: typically 100 to 150 mm on a steep roof.

Cedar cladding price per m²

Live prices are in the grid above. Cedar costs more than the value softwoods, Douglas fir and Ecowood, because it is a naturally durable species graded for very few knots. In return it doesn’t need preservative to last, but it weathers to silver grey, so most people oil it to keep the warm colour. Within the range, the longer the board, the higher its price.

Boards are sold by the length, so the fair way to compare the options is by the cost of the finished wall rather than the price of one board. Enter your area in the calculator on the product page and it works out how many you need; the cart adds the fixings and extras.

Cedar vs larch cladding

Cedar and larch are the two species most people weigh up for a natural timber wall. Cedar is lighter, at around 380 kg per cubic metre against larch’s 590 kg, more durable at Class 2 against Class 3, and calmer to look at, with a straight grain and very few knots. Larch cladding is denser and livelier, with a warm reddish-brown colour and more knots. Both weather to silver-grey if left bare, so most people oil them to keep the colour.

If you would rather not have a timber wall that changes colour or needs oil, composite cladding comes in cedar-coloured boards and needs minimal maintenance. You give up the real grain and the natural silvering in exchange.

Installing and looking after cedar cladding

Cedar is easy to work: it cuts cleanly and planes to a fine finish. How long it lasts depends on the detailing, so get these points right:

• Ventilated cavity: fix the boards over cladding battens, which leave an air gap behind the cladding so moisture can escape.
• Stainless fixings (A2 or A4): use stainless ringshank nails or screws, never galvanised or mild steel, which react with the tannins and leave dark streaks. Screws and pins are in our cladding accessories.
• Pre-drilling: pre-drill near the board ends to stop them splitting.
• Expansion gaps: leave a small gap at every joint so the timber can move with the seasons.
• Corners: fix the L angles with stainless pins or screws at regular centres, mitre or butt the internal corners, and leave a small gap at the bottom of vertical runs.

After that, it comes down to colour. Cedar doesn’t need oil to last, but left bare it silvers within a year or two and needs an occasional clean with a soft brush and a diluted neutral cleaner, so most people oil it. To keep the honey-brown colour, apply a UV-protective oil from our exterior wood oils within the first few months, then refresh it every two or three years. Avoid paint, varnish and general-purpose stain: cedar’s oily surface repels them and they flake within a couple of seasons.

Cedar cladding in Dublin and across Ireland

Our cedar cladding is held in our Dublin warehouse. Collect your order there, or have it sent with delivery across Ireland. To compare cedar with Douglas fir, Iroko, oak, charred larch and the other species, browse our full timber cladding range.