Thermowood Rainshield Cladding

Thermowood Rainshield

Thermowood Rainshield cladding is a contemporary product which combines machined smoothness with traditional feather edge overlapping. Although it isn’t overlapped quite as much as what feather edge is, the Rainshield profile we supply has the overlap built into it with the chamfer on both faces for the top and bottom of the board. This design is to help water run of the face of the timber naturally while allowing air to circulate behind (which is always helped by a breathable membrane as well).

The Thermowood iWood supplies is a Scandanavian Pine which has been heat treated so that the most amount of moisture as possible has been removed from the timber. This improves durability and stability. The third benefit of this treatment is that is dries up any resin and tannin in the wood so helps to prevent it from rotting. Due to this process the characteristics of the wood are changes so that it struggles to take on moisture, this makes it ideal for external use, and means you don’t need to seal it with a paint or oil.

If you do wish to paint the timber or preserve the colour, you can get a wide range of treatments at wood finishes direct. Thermowood will take the paint well, so you will get the finish you desire.

We provide Thermowood Rainscreen cladding in our IWC8 profile in a Sawfalling grade. This grade of wood does contain a fair number of knots, most of which will be sound. It is worth accounting for the dead knots that may appear in the timber though, so we recommend ordering an extra 10% so you can cut around these knots.

A Suitable Alternative to Siberian Larch

With current supplies of Siberian Larch being difficult int eh current climate, we have been looking for a suitable wood to fill the void and Thermowood fits the bill perfectly. It is highly durable with little maintenance and take s a paint really well. Making it a solid choice for any cladding project you have.

Our Thermowood is available as PEFC certified because it is sourced from sustainable sources.

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.