European Oak Feather Edge Cladding

We can supply European Oak feather edged cladding in the following profiles:

• IWC9 - 200mm wide Feather Edge Oak Cladding - to be overlapped 25mm giving 175mm face cover
• IWC10 - 150mm wide Feather Edge Oak Cladding - to be overlapped 25mm giving 125mm face cover

The profiles are designed to overlap each other and to be fitted horizontally.

We only supply European Oak Feather Edged cladding in fresh sawn character grade. This "green" (fresh sawn) oak will contain some knots and gives a very traditional look. The knots in this timber will be fairly small and there will be no large dead knots.

Fresh sawn oak will dry out over a long period of time of its own accord so doesn’t need treating like the kiln dried and machined alternatives. This makes Feather Edged cladding easy to maintain and cost effective.

Your oak feather edge cladding will be supplied in random lengths between 2m and 3.8m.

The Importance of Installing Quickly

Because Feather Edge cladding is fresh sawn, it's imperative when ordering that you'll:

• a) be able to take delivery as soon as we've got it ready
• b) install the cladding as soon as possible after receiving delivery of it

Fresh Sawn Feather Edge Cladding will start to dry out quite quickly, so the longer it's left stored and not on your building, the more likely it is to start cupping and becoming discoloured. It's very important you take delivery as soon as it's ready and get it up onto your building.

Treatments

Most people leave their timber to go the traditional silver-grey in the sun. We recommend talking to www.wood-finishes-direct.com if you would like to treat your timber. If you do decide to treat your timber, it needs to be treated all the way round including the ends to prevent moisture getting in at all.

Fitting Guidance

Our Feather Edge Cladding is designed to be installed by a professional with previous experience in successfully fitting it. The information here is provided as an overview only and is not a substitute for professional fitting advice.

Be sure to read our treatment guidance as treatment needs to be applied prior to fixing your cladding

Breathable Membrane

Consult a fitter to determine if your scenario would require the fitting of a breathable membrane between your wall and the cladding. This membrane stops rain getting to the wall, but allows moisture to escape, helping to prevent internal condensation and mould that can come with it.

Treated Softwood Battens

Treated softwood battens (available from our cladding accessories pages) are most commonly used to fix to the wall (or on top of the breathable membrane) to then fix your cladding to. Feather Edge Cladding is for horizontal fixing only, so your battens need to be placed vertically, at around every 600mm (60cm).

Fixing the Cladding

** Whether you use nails or screws, it's important that they are stainless steel, or silicone bronze ARS, so that the natural tanins in the timber will not corrode them. Never use iron nails for fixing timber.

There are two common ways to fix feather edge cladding. The first is to nail it, in which case it's best to use two nails across the width of the board (so one vertically above the other), as long as you don't nail through two boards at once with the same nail, so it won't split as it expands or contracts with the seasons. If you use nails, preferably use ring-shanked for extra grip, and again stainless steel so they don't corrode. For lower-density species like cedar, consider using nails with larger heads so the cladding doesn't pull through.

Secondly, you can pre-drill holes wider than the body of the screws you are using, and hold the boards with the head of the screw. This will allow movement without splitting the boards.

Either way, start at the bottom and use an extra batten to space the bottom of the bottom board away from the building. Work your way up the building. Make sure you have the thinnest part of the board at the top.

Layout of the cladding

With each new row of cladding you add, it's preferred that you stagger the joins between each board so you don't create a visible seam.

As already stated, these are just ideas to get you thinking about installation and you should consult a professional installer before fitting your cladding as every scenario is different.

All our claddings are provided untreated. Fresh sawn timber claddings are best left untreated and to go silver grey. There are a wide range of optional treatments available for different species of timber and we recommend talking to the excellent team at www.wood-finishes-direct.com, who know the most up-to-date information on all the newest treatment products.