PuraClassic Composite Cladding

PuraClassic fire rated composite cladding

PuraClassic composite cladding is a tongue and groove (T&G) composite board for the outside walls of houses, extensions and larger buildings, and it is the board to choose when a fire class is part of the brief. It is classified Euroclass B, the highest fire class in our composite cladding. T&G means each board’s tongue locks into the groove of the next, so the wall reads as one continuous face and the screws are hidden in the joints. Every board is 157×21 mm and needs no oiling or painting.

That places PuraClassic at the specification end of our composite range. Where PuraTech sells on texture and PuraShell on its capped face and colour choice, PuraClassic sells on fire performance with a calm, flat look. It is stocked in Charcoal, a deep, even grey-black that suits contemporary builds and sits well beside render, brick and glass.

What Euroclass B means for cladding

Euroclasses are the European reaction-to-fire scale set out in EN 13501-1. They rate how much a material contributes to a fire, from A1, non-combustible, down to F. Here is where each of our composite cladding boards sits:

• Euroclass B: a very limited contribution to a fire. PuraClassic, in both the woodgrain and brushed finish.
• Euroclass D: PuraTech 55, the double slat board in our PuraTech slatted range.
• Euroclass E: PuraTech 30, the triple slat board, which suits most domestic work.

Building regulations can ask for a higher class where a wall is close to a site boundary, or on larger and taller buildings. Check the class your specification needs before you order. The fire test details are listed on each PuraClassic product page, so you can keep them with your project file.

Charcoal composite cladding: woodgrain or brushed

Both finishes are the same board, with the same size, fire class and fixing, and both come in Charcoal. Only the surface changes, and with it the character of the wall.

PuraClassic Woodgrain

An embossed grain that catches the light like real timber, so the wall reads as wood at a glance. It is the most natural-looking PuraClassic finish and sits as comfortably beside a garden or a traditional house as a modern one. See PuraClassic Woodgrain composite cladding.

PuraClassic Brushed

A fine, linear texture that reads as a clean architectural board rather than imitation timber, for contemporary builds. The slight surface variation also hides small imperfections on site that a perfectly flat face would show. See PuraClassic Brushed composite cladding.

PuraClassic board size

Every PuraClassic board is 157×21 mm in both finishes, so there is nothing to mix up on site. The 157 mm width is a mid-width board that looks right fixed horizontally or vertically; part of it is the tongue, which sits inside the next board. At 21 mm it is a slim board, which keeps the wall build-up tight around windows and doors. Choose the length on the product page; longer boards mean fewer end joints on garden room and extension walls, which keeps the face clean.

Enter your wall area in the calculator on either board’s page and it works out how many boards you need; the cart adds the matching screws, battens and trims automatically.

Why composite instead of painted or oiled timber

PuraClassic is a wood plastic composite, so it doesn’t rot, split or need a coating. In testing to ASTM D1037, a board took up just 0.09% of its weight in water after 2 hours submerged and 0.18% after 24 hours, which is why it holds its shape through Irish winters without sealing. A wash once or twice a year is all it needs.

If you would rather have real wood on the wall, our timber cladding gives you that. Cedar and larch don’t need treating to last, but left bare they weather to silver grey, so most people oil them to keep the colour with an exterior oil from our oils and stains. PuraClassic gives you the look of a clean, dark board with no oil to renew.

Installing PuraClassic cladding

PuraClassic goes up like any T&G cladding, and its installation manual gives the batten spacing, fixing pattern, expansion allowances and detailing at openings:

• Battens and cavity: fix cladding battens to the wall so there is a ventilated cavity, an air gap that lets moisture escape from behind the boards.
• Fixing: lock each board into the one before and screw through the tongue into the batten, so no fixing shows on the face. Stainless steel screws are in our cladding screws.
• Corners and ends: finish external corners, reveals and cut ends with a composite corner trim from our cladding trims.
• One order: the matching screws, battens and trims are suggested on each board’s page; order them with the boards for a single delivery.

PuraClassic or another composite cladding

If the fire class doesn’t decide it for you, compare the other T&G board: PuraShell composite cladding is capped and co-extruded, with a flat woodgrain face in five colours, and suits garden rooms and extensions. For a slatted wall with deep shadow lines, PuraTech is the feature range. See every range side by side in our composite cladding collection.

PuraClassic in Dublin and across Ireland

Both PuraClassic finishes are held in our Dublin warehouse. See them in our Dublin showroom, collect your order there, or have it delivered anywhere in Ireland.