Creating a naturally beautiful exterior

Our garden buildings are not only designed to be useful spaces but we want them to look beautiful and sit comfortably in your garden landscape. That’s why we offer a choice of cladding and decking materials to suit your taste and your budget.

All of the timber we supply is kiln dried and from sustainable sources. We utilise stainless steel secret fixing solutions so the visual effect of your cladding is not interrupted, and you can rest assured it will look every bit as good in 20 year’s time as it does on the day we complete your building.

Cladding

Thermowood

This could be an ideal solution if you want to achieve a beautiful building on a smaller budget. This cladding uses a Finnish grown pine which is treated to temperatures in excess of 2000C. During the heat treatment, chemical and structural changes occur within the timber that alter and enhance some of its basic properties. The resulting product is an altogether more durable and stable timber, an ideal material for use in exposed areas such as external wall claddings in garden buildings.

Western Red Cedar

Four our top specification cladding we use clear (knot free) Western Red Cedar. It has a very low shrinkage factor and is superior to all other coniferous woods in its resistance to warping, twisting and checking.

The conduction of heat in wood is directly related to its density. Woods with low density have the highest thermal insulating value because such woods contain a high proportion of cell cavities. In dry wood, these cavities are filled with air which is one of the best known thermal insulators.

With its low density and high proportion of air spaces, Western Red Cedar is the best thermal insulator among the commonly available softwood species and is far superior to brick, concrete and steel.

Natural acoustic properties

An important acoustic property of wood is its ability to dampen vibrations. Wood has a cellular network of minute interlocking pores which converts sound energy into heat by frictional and viscoelastic resistance. Because of the high internal friction created by the cellular pore network, wood has more sound damping capacity than most structural materials. Floor, ceiling and wall assemblies of wood can provide effective, economical sound insulation and absorption when properly utilised. Western Red Cedar is particularly effective in this regard and can be used to help reduce noise or to confine it to certain areas.

Cladding treatment

Although the cladding on your garden building does not need treatment and will silver down in time, we do offer a choice of specialised exterior wood oils (with UV protection) and also stains to lift and maintain the colour and grain of the wood. It will be necessary to re-treat the cladding on an annual basis to maintain the look but this can be performed very quickly once strong base coats are applied when your building is first installed.

Decking

Softwood (Thermowood)

We use a Thermowood decking to compliment our Thermowood cladding. The resistance to water and to fungal attack is so effective that your deck will last up to 15 years and, with just a simple deck oil, you can maintain its rich colour. The inviting dark tones may resemble hardwood, yet it is made from Scandinavian softwood. Heat treatment improves the wood’s performance and uses no chemicals, which means your deck is good for the environment and naturally resistant to weather.
Softwood (Western Red Cedar);We utilise Cedar decking to compliment the beautiful clear (knot free) Cedar cladding. As with all the timber we use, it is kiln dried. The deck is fastened using quality stainless steel decking screws (to prevent any reaction with the timber), or a secret fastening system to give that real wow factor.

Hardwood (Balau);

For larger decks we recommend using a hardwood decking material as it provides much higher resistance to wear. 
Balau hardwood decking is well- suited to the UK climate as it is so hard-wearing, knot-free and much more pleasing to the eye, with its different shades of orangey-browns that compliment the Western Red Cedar tones. It has anti-slip properties which is why this wood was originally used for marine decks. It also has a natural built-in resistance to fungal decay and insect attack.

To ensure the longevity of your hardwood deck it is vital that it is installed correctly.  To achieve this we usually support the treated timber sub structure on hi-density concrete blocks, always pre-drill and countersink the holes for the special stainless deck screws (at 400mm centres) and oil the deck, paying particular attention to cut ends.