Cedarwood timber cladding installation in Waltham Abbey, Essex

There’s nothing quite like genuine cedarwood cladding to make a house stand out from the crowd.

We’ve written before on here about the importance of getting the right materials, when there is such a wide choice available.

Summit Cladding were called to a stunning property in the heart of Epping Forest, not far from Waltham Abbey, Essex.

Our clients had employed general builders to do most of the conversion work, but they felt let down when the builders failed to deliver the finished quality demanded by their architect.

As a company specialising in cladding, Summit were able to advise on the best choice of timber cladding to suit the look of the property. And, as with every other building material, there’s a huge difference in quality out there.

Top Quality Cedarwood

Among the least expensive timber cladding is English Red Cedar, but it shows a lot of knots where smaller branches have been trimmed from the tree trunk.

Canadian Cedar, with far fewer knots, is superior but obviously more expensive. And because demand is lower, no wood merchants keep a stock of planks. Therefore, the wood must be specially milled to a client’s specification and the length of the cut also affects the price.

It doesn’t stop there, either! Canadian Cedar comes in two grades – Prestige and Premium. Prestige is the one that most suppliers use and although it is better than English Cedar it cannot be guaranteed without knots.

Premium grade is the one that most architects would specify for the best look and was always the industry standard before recent price increases. It offers the clear unblemished look that most clients demand and, best of all, it is absolutely guaranteed to be knot-free.

Fixing and Installation

Then we came to the different profiles available with timber cladding and in this case, Summit recommended that our clients go for the invisible tongue and groove fixing profile

We started the installation by fixing a breathable felt membrane with treated timber battens on to all the areas to be covered. Preparation work is so important when fitting cladding to ensuring that all joins will be supported. The final touch was to neatly trim up all around the windows.

Some of our clients like cedarwood to weather naturally and turn slightly grey as the wood ages. Others would rather maintain the variation in the natural reds of the timber. if this is the preferred option the wood must be treated with a specialist ultraviolet protector.

The installation on our client’s house in Epping Forest took eight days to complete and, as the pictures demonstrate, the property has been given a wonderfully smart and contemporary look, thanks to Summit Cladding.

Categorised in: Cladding, Timber Cladding

This post was written by Summit Cladding