External Wall Cladding Options For Your Home

If you're remodelling and covering you home with new wall cladding, you can repeat the existing material so your home will look virtually brand new. Alternatively, you can change its aesthetic by coating the frame with a different substance. Here are several options to consider. 

Vinyl 

One alternative is vinyl cladding which is available in numerous colours and styles. It can mimic weatherboard planks for a traditional look or replicate timber logs to compose a rustic exterior. Other vinyl forms include vertical boards or shingles. The sheer variety of contours allows you to create any appearance you'd like to achieve, in hues such as dusky grey, beige or charcoal. With low-maintenance vinyl cladding, you won't need to worry about rot, mildew or rust. Another benefit is that it's durable and relatively easy to install. 

Metal 

Metal cladding provides other options for your home. Available in various muted hues like greys, greens and reds, corrugated sheets have diverse forms and grooves. For instance, they can show standard curved wave shapes or sharper configurations with alternating flat and pointy-ridge sections. Metal cladding in large sheets particularly flatters contemporary homes with their clean lines and sharp angles, but metal cladding can also replicate traditional weatherboard plank forms. 

You'll be able to choose between aluminium and steel. Aluminium is the lighter of the two and thus easier to install. It's naturally anti-corrosive and able to endure biting coastal atmospheres. Steel, the heavier material, is typically stronger and less likely to dent. Though not resistant to rusting like aluminium, steel usually has protective coatings of zinc, sometimes combined with aluminium and magnesium for extra protection.

Stone 

For beautiful decorative external walls around your home, cover them in stone cladding. These coverings usually consist of boards of plywood with glued-on rock pieces, in large veneers, small pebbles or other shapes and sizes. These rock covered strips then attach to the timber house frame. As a result, the building has the appearance of solid stone walls, rather than veneer. 

Natural stone comes in a vast range of colours including grey, blue, purple, tan, orange, pink and mauve. The look of the cladding will vary along with the particular rock pieces. While smaller pebbles evoke a charming cottage look, large smooth veneers that resemble blocks can call up a palatial effect, depending on the overall context and scene. Stone cladding is heavier than vinyl and metal, and your house frame will need the strength to bear its weight. 

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