European Oak Rainshield Cladding

We supply European Oak Rainscreen cladding in our IWC8 profile which can be fitted horizontally.

We provide Rainshield cladding in our kiln dried prime and light character grade Oak. Both grades are highly suitable for cladding with the choice coming down to your personal preference on how you want your cladding to look. Prime grade is a cleaner timber with very few knots whereas the light character will have more knots.

Due to our European Oak Rainscreen cladding being a machined and kiln dried product you will need to treat your timber to make sure that there is minimal movement from moisture entering the timber. Without treatment the timber will be subject to shrinking in the summer and expanding in the winter. We recommend that you treat your cladding before applying it to ensure a complete seal.

Your European Oak Rainscreen Cladding is supplied in random lengths of 2m and longer. You can request longer lengths if necessary however please call us on 01889 279 018 or talk to us on our online chat. If we can supply the lengths you need please outline your requirement in the “Special Instructions” box on the shopping basket page of the site.

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 fitting guidelines are designed to give you a starting point on how to fit your rainshield cladding and we recommend that you consult an expert fitter to advise on your actual scenario.

Please note: One of the edges of our rainscreen profile has a steeper angle than the other. The profile is designed to be fitted with the steepest angle at the top, so the gap between the boards is widest at the front exposed side, and smallest at the back.

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

Breathable Membrane

Rainshield cladding should be fitted on top of a breathable membrane, because it is designed to be fixed with gaps around it. 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. For rainshield cladding, which is fitted horizontally, your battens need to be placed vertically, at around every 600mm (60cm).

Fixing

When fitting your timber to the battens we recommend pre-drilling the holes to avoid splitting the wood and then hold the board with screws. Rainshield cladding boards are designed to sit on top of each other and we recommend leaving a 12mm gap in between them on the front face.

Unlike other profiles of cladding, many people line up the joins on each row of cladding to create bold lines for a modern look.

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.