External house cladding functions similarly to a skin for your property. Cladding is a substance that covers another material, and vinyl and aluminum are two of the most prevalent forms of external cladding for houses. We may be discussing cladding (and numerous home cladding alternatives such as timber cladding) in the advanced twenty-first century, but it is not a new concept. Of course, home cladding concepts have come a long way, and cladding materials are now incredibly modern, but the technique dates back to Egypt and the pyramids. Architects and draftsmen are combining materials, textures, and colors to create feature walls and visually and texturally appealing home exteriors. Choosing the proper type of cladding is essential not just for new residences. External wall cladding should be included in home expansion expenses, especially if the entire house cladding will be changed to match the extension.
Cladding has various advantages
For starters, it’s an excellent layer of protection for the actual construction of your home. The cladding on your house will absorb the worst of the rain and wind damage, but it will also insulate your property. Exterior cladding systems are effective noise and heat insulators. Exterior cladding will also act as an extra layer to keep sounds out of your property, decrease wear and tear, and provide a variety of environmental benefits. In the summer, your home will be cooler, and in the winter, it will be warmer. Power usage will be lowered, your energy costs will be cut, and you will be contributing to the battle against climate change. Architects and draftsmen will build feature walls and stunning visual and textural facades for house exteriors that you will enjoy for a lifetime using a creative blend of cladding materials, textures, and colors.
What kind of cladding should I use?
However, just like any other construction material, each form of modern cladding has advantages and disadvantages, and it is critical to consider which cladding material is the greatest fit for your specific building project. Here are several cladding alternatives to consider:
Vinyl Cladding
Vinyl cladding is immensely popular due to its attractive appearance, adaptability, low cost, and ease of maintenance. This cladding is commonly horizontally laid boards made of a mixture of PVC and other materials. The boards are frequently insulated, and once placed, you can practically forget about painting, fixing, or otherwise maintaining them. Vinyl cladding rarely fades or fractures, so any color you pick will stay for a long period. Vinyl has excellent environmental credentials due to its ease of manufacture and recyclable nature, as well as its good thermal performance. They’ll take a beating from the environment, your kids’ sports, and mould and mildew.
Aluminium Cladding
Another popular type of cladding is aluminum or other metals. The aesthetic is popular because it is gleaming and ultra-modern, especially when applied to older, tired-looking homes and structures. Metal cladding is very adaptable and simple to deal with due to its malleability. Maintenance is incredibly low, and because moisture is not absorbed, fungus and algae are not a concern. Fire is also not a concern, and metal cladding is still lightweight. Even though materials can be used to increase this attribute, there are superior sound insulators. There are many textures and colours to choose from, and aluminum cladding in particular is highly energy efficient.
Scyon Cladding
Scyon is formed of sand, cement, and cellulose. This cladding now comes in four variants: Linea, Axon, Stria, and Matrix. The distinction is due to the joints. Stria has a horizontal ship-lapped joint. But Matrix has a geometric, expressive joint style that is more common in commercial structures. Axon cladding is a vertically grooved cladding panel with a crisp and consistent appearance that is ideal for a modern aesthetic. Scyon cladding has a lovely natural appearance, yet it is termite-free. It also outperforms hardwoods in terms of thermal and acoustic qualities, and if you do need to paint, you won’t have to do so frequently.
Lightweight Blueboard
Some folks are confused when they hear the term “blueboard.” It’s a typical term for cement sheet-style external cladding, of which there are many varieties on the market. Some call it that because of the blue primer, but it’s really just a cladding system that’s meant to be finished with acrylic render. Blueboard is light, but robust, despite its 7.5mm sheeting size. With the addition of an acrylic layer of color or texture, it can appear nicely produced – without the necessity for brickwork. It is available in a number of sheet sizes, giving you the option of a basic straight wall or a more beautiful wall with columns and top moulds. Builders and house renovators will also like Blueboard since it is not only beautiful but also inexpensive.
Autoclaved Aerated Concrete
This style of pre-cast concrete, made of natural elements, originally appeared in Sweden in the early twentieth century. The architect who thought to add a little aluminum powder to the typical concrete formula of cement, water, sand, and lime deserves recognition. The outcome is a masonry unit (or a block), and the ultimate result is a mortared wall, much like typical building with concrete blocks. The insulating capabilities of autoclaved aerated concrete, which is also available in reinforced panels and lintels, are a significant advantage. Hebel is a high-performance autoclave aerated concrete that is extremely lightweight (AAC). A gas-forming agent, which expands the entire mixture to generate incredibly small, finely scattered air pockets, is the secret ingredient in the concrete. The end product is aerated concrete, which is ideal for a contemporary modern outside, especially since Hebel may be customized with your own texture and colours.
Sheet Plywood Cladding
It first appeared in the early 1900s as a low-cost alternative for actual wood. Plywood is today popular among homeowners and builders all over the world. What’s the deal? The main advantage is that it looks fantastic – almost as nice as genuine wood. However, it is exceedingly robust – in fact, it is stronger than genuine wood, believe it or not. This is due to the cross-grained structure, which distributes strength considerably more easily than occurs normally. However, because it is much lighter than solid wood, it is possible to make even very large plywood sheets. Plywood can also be easily bent, and waste of the cost-effective, environmentally beneficial sheets is practically never an issue. Plywood sheets are available in a variety of designs, with some designed to look exactly like shiplap cladding. Gaps are often filled with battens or flashings. Weatherboard cladding made of plywood is also available.
Monolithic Structures
Monolithic cladding systems, as the name implies, offer a uniform look. This sleek appearance has become highly common in high-end home projects, with cladding tailored to exceedingly precise requirements. People used to suffer from leaky homes as a result of subpar monolithic cladding with inadequate jointing and flashing. Today, however, builders are more sensitive to the manufacturer’s demands. While it gives an attractive appearance, continual upkeep is required. Stucco, solid plaster, or fiber cement sheet are the typical monolithic systems. All monolithic claddings rely on the final layer for waterproofing, which must be kept in good condition.
Conclusion
Wall cladding is not only intended to look good; it is also your home’s principal defense against the elements. So, whichever home cladding alternatives you choose, make sure they are not only visually beautiful and cost-effective, but also keep the elements at bay and take into account all of the other advantages and negatives. The kind of external cladding materials will be a crucial consideration when building or extending your dream house. We hope these home cladding ideas are useful to you.
