Your Guide to Timber Roof Cladding

When it comes to roofing your home, you have a lot of options in material, style and color to choose from. Many people simply opt for asphalt shingles, not aware of what some of the other options out there may be. One option that’s been gaining traction in some areas is timber roof cladding. These homes use the same type of timber cladding that’s used on their exterior walls to cover the roof of their homes or buildings as well. The effect creates beautiful, unusual house exteriors that are durable, stylish and wonderfully unique.

What Is Timber Roof Cladding?

Essentially, timber roof cladding is the same material that’s been gaining in popularity around the world as an exterior siding for homes and businesses. Timber cladding is natural wood that’s used for exterior coverings on walls and roofing. It can be installed in several different patterns and directions, allowing it to conform to a house’s architectural style and unique planes and lines.

Timber roof cladding is simply the use of wood cladding on the roof of the home. Laid in what’s typically called a “shiplap” installation, the timber roof cladding provides a watertight, sleek surface for the roof that protects the home or building from the elements, while enhancing its style.

Why Use Timber Roofing?

You have a lot of options on the market today for roofing materials, so why use a timber roof? There are many benefits that can be achieved using this material, mostly in style and design, although new production methods for the cladding ensure that you’re also getting a long-lasting, durable roof as well.

The single biggest benefit to using timber roof cladding is the look it brings your home or building. The long lines of the cladding are ideally suited to the long, unbroken planes of the roof. This accentuates the roof line, making the home or building appear to be taller and wider than it may actually be.

When the same cladding is installed vertically over the sides of the home as well, the lines can be carried up and over the roof, which creates an unbroken visual line. This is visually appealing and can create a unique appearance for the home’s exterior. For modern homes, this type of line can both flatter the clean, minimalist style of the home, while at the same time emphasizing the shape. This is ideal for modern architecture in which the slope of the roof plays a big role in the home’s curb appeal.

In homes or buildings where another material is used for the siding, such as brick or stone, the timber roofing visually softens the home, giving it a more natural and rustic appeal. This contrast between the two materials lends depth to the building, giving it interest and drawing the eye.

Style and Design

Cladding may not be the first thing people think of when they consider the roof, but many different materials are used as a roof cladding, including metal and fiber cement sheeting. Timber roofing simply takes this a step further by using individual planks instead of corrugated sheets. The result is a roof that has a sleek, flat surface, yet texture and detail at the same time.

The cladding can be installed on the roof in a few different ways, depending on the look you’re trying to achieve. For example, a vertical install with the plans running from the edge of the roof straight to the peak will visually elongate the roof and provide a minimalist design. Laying the cladding horizontally, running from side to side, but in the same shiplap installation will provide a different look; one that makes the home appear broader and will complement more rustic or cabin-style houses or buildings.

The cladding could also be installed in a more traditional Dutch lap on the roofing as well. With each plank slightly overlapping the next as it moves upward toward the roof, you create the optical illusion that the walls aren’t ending, but merely bending and moving toward the sky.

In any installation, the timber cladding can be used to enhance the architecture of the building, while drawing the eye upward. The result is, therefore, unique to the home or building, combining the roofing timber with the siding to create a one of kind appearance.

Consider Timber Roof Cladding

Timber roof cladding is durable, attractive and not your everyday roofing product. Paired with timber cladding for the walls of the home, or mixed with a different material, it’s sure to help bring out the best in the building’s exterior. The roof is one of the most important parts of a home or building; it’s a protective barrier that demands durability in whatever material is used. But on top of what it needs to be, a roof can also be a great opportunity to make a design statement and enhance curb appeal. Clad your roof in timber to bring out the best a roof has to offer.