What's your exterior motive?
What should you consider when selecting the cladding for your new home? Selecting your exterior cladding is one of the most important decisions in the home-building process. In addition to significantly affecting your home’s appearance, your cladding choice influences your construction costs, long-term maintenance needs, and even your home’s insulation, making it essential to get it right.
This article outlines the main factors to consider when selecting cladding and provides an overview of some of New Zealand’s most popular cladding materials.
Lifetime Cost & Maintenance
The cost-effective cladding might not be the best option. The amount of maintenance required varies depending on the material you choose, and a low-maintenance option with a higher initial cost could save you money in the long term..
Climate & Weather
The other layer of your home can provide a different degree of warmth and insulation. Talk to your Fowler Homes team about the cladding’s insulation rating (R-value) and discuss the best option for your region. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulation. .
Aesthetics & Combination Cladding
Combining two or three different materials can add to the street appeal of your home. The Fowler Homes design team will work with you on suitability and ensuring the aesthetics are delivered. We can get renders drawn to give you an impression of your home, and show you samples and real-life examples of the cladding on previous build jobs.
Sustainability
Sustainable elements of the product, how and where it’s mad,e are an important consideration. We are fortunate to have some solid natural materials for home building.
Living in a material world
Once you have considered some of the factors of your exterior cladding, let’s take a look at some of the popular materials available. At Fowler Homes, we work closely with Midland Brick NZ, James Hardie, and Resene Construction Systems for durable exteriors you can trust. We also work with our trade merchants and bespoke suppliers for specialised materials like stone, colour steel, or charred timber.
Brick
One of the world’s oldest and most trusted sustainable building materials, clay bricks create an ageless home that will protect your family for generations to come.
No two clay bricks will be identical which is what creates such a unique and natural look. The natural raw materials they contain, as well as the kiln firing process, create variation in texture and colour from brick to brick.
They are naturally creative and come in various textures, colours, and sizes, allowing you to place them in different ways. Bricks are low maintenance, they stay looking great, and are capable of withstanding harsh environmental conditions. Made from organic minerals and naturally abundant clay sources, clay bricks are a safe choice for the environment.
Bricks provide a solid investment, renowned for their strength and longevity. They are also energy efficient; the natural thermal insulating properties moderate the extremes in building temperatures, keeping it cool in summer and warm in winter, reducing energy consumption. Clay bricks increase the comfort of your home by blocking outside noise.
Midland Brick has a range of New Zealand-made bricks in various dimensions take a look at the range here.
Weatherboard
Weatherboard is a quintessential exterior cladding and has excellent versatility.
James Hardie offers several well-known weatherboard products in different profiles, including Linea Weatherboard, Linea Oblique Weatherboard, and Stria Cladding.
Linea Weatherboard ,can be used to create colourful feature walls, full cladding for new builds and cladding for additions and renovations. With Linea Weatherboard your home can have all the distinctive features and charm of weatherboard with all the benefits of low maintenance, fibre cement.
Oblique Weatherboard can be used to create colourful feature walls, full cladding for new builds, cladding for additions and renovations and internal feature walls. It is lightweight and durable, making it ideal for overhangs, protective cantilevers, and other striking architectural features.
Oblique Weatherboards offer classic and contemporary design solutions, all with the added benefits of fibre cement. They are also compatible with Stria.
Stria Cladding has distinctive deep grooved lines and can be laid horizontally or vertically, introducing an interesting design feature to the walls of your home. Imagine a house that’s completely wrapped in Stria Cladding where every wall is different, where it’s not just the wall style but the colour being changed, and you’ll start to see the playful element it brings to your design.
Hardie’s products are manufactured with a focus on reducing their environmental impact. They use sustainable, low-toxicity products with minimal volatile organic compounds (VOCs). They continue to invest in the development and design of durable, low-maintenance fibre cement products.
Plaster Systems
Resene Construction Systems has been designing innovative plaster cladding systems for over 30 years. Plaster cladding is versatile and can create an aesthetically appealing finish on your walls. It can be smooth, textured, patterned, tinted, or painted; the options for customisation are almost limitless.
When used on a property’s façade, plaster cladding provides expert protection against the harsh elements outside; rain, wind, sleet, snow, and strong UV rays included. Your building will look brand-new for much longer.
The Resene systems have been designed for New Zealand conditions and rigorously tested here to withstand our unique climate and protect your investment. They purchase raw materials and manufacture locally at their own facilities.
AND you can colour match your plaster with Resene Colours.
Other Materials
Timber Cladding – Cedar, Larch, Pine
Timber cladding, such as Cedar, Larch, or Pine (board and batten), is popular for Kiwi homes. Its visual values, natural beauty, and strong functional properties remain popular nationwide.
Charred Timber
We’ve dedicated a whole blog to charred cladding here. Charred, brushed, and oiled timber is such a luxurious product to work with. It features a striking dark finish, snakeskin appearance, and texture. And a toffee aroma.
Stone cladding
Stone cladding can be made of natural stone or a stone veneer. Both impart a long-lasting, natural look to a range of projects. From the first settlers to this very day, stone’s unique look and qualities are unparalleled. Our expert stone masons will source the product from local quarries.
Colour Steel
There are several types of steel or metal cladding that you’ll find on our homes. Coreen steel features tray, five-rib, or corrugate steel. More details here.
Stratco offers a product called Hiland Tray, is a roof and wall cladding system, and looks really smart.
Five Rib is light, strong, and stylish, and can be used in domestic and commercial applications. Its clean profile and straight lines with five ribs make it suitable for walls, decorative panels, and even fencing.
Corrugate is a firm favourite with Kiwis because of its truly classic look, which is excellent in all different building styles. Used for both roofing and cladding, you’ll never go wrong with classic Corrugate.
When you build with Fowler Homes, you can trust in the knowledge of our expert teams and the suppliers we work with. We are committed to designing and building a home that is uniquely yours. Contact our team today and let’s see what we can build for you.
