Articles: Deciding on Cedar Cladding

We offer two different variants of Western Red Cedar cladding as well as a large variety of cladding profiles in each, so you need to decide which is best for you. The two on offer are Canadian Western Red Cedar and British Western Red Cedar cladding.

Out of the two the Canadian is the most popular but that doesn’t mean that you have to discount the British. They are both durable and suitable for external use as well as being stable enough to be machined to a profile.

Canadian Western Red Cedar is provided in a state that’s called shipping air dried. This makes it more in tune with kiln dried timber than fresh sawn. On the other-hand British Western Red Cedar is provided green.

Different Types of Cedar Cladding Available.

There are different types of Cedar cladding for you to choose from including:

• Tongue and Groove
• Shiplap
• Rainshield
• Feather edge
• Waney Edge

British Western Red Cedar is available in all cladding types whereas the Canadian is not available as Waney Edge. This is because when the Canadian boards are imported into the country, they have already had the wane taken off them.

Deciding Factors

Colour
The Canadian Cedar varies greatly in colour ranging from orange through to purple with almost every shade in between. The colour variation is one of the great attractions for the Canadian timber as it makes for an outstanding effect.

The British boards are more uniform and are a light red in colour (you will still see variation).

Knot Content
Our Canadian Cedar contains very few knots as we supply it in the highest grade available. The British on the other hand is full of knots and is a much more traditional looking timber.

So, whether you want to see or don’t want to see many knots will be a major influence on your decision between the two.

Budget
The most cost effective out of the two, when you purely look at price, would be the British Cedar. Although it is important to remember that the Canadian is more durable and is less susceptible to warping through moisture movement.