Effective – Exterior Wall Cladding

by Jessica Wilson Blog Writer

Picture any building nearby. Home. Workplace. Entertainment joint. What's gives the building its personality? That's right. Like people, a building's exterior wall cladding design oozes what it stands for. Builders have known this for eons.

But to make an exterior wall cladding system effective, it has to go beyond aesthetics. For example, it has to serve the interior in one way or another.

So, what makes an outdoor wall cladding option effective?

Which is the best exterior cladding?

Well, you may have truckloads of exterior wall cladding ideas. But their effectiveness comes down to use case.

What Are Some Exterior Wall Cladding Uses?

The most popular one is aesthetic, how it looks and feels.

You can use your exterior wall cladding designs to highlight your brand’s message, personality, and vision.

Good examples include Silicon Valley companies such as Facebook, Google, and Apple with their modern cladding designs.

Newer engineers are trying to achieve more with a building’s façade than how it looks and feels.

Here are some powerful examples.

Save energy
Protect against weather elements, especially the fading effects of rain showers and bright sunlight
Propagating sufficient natural light and fresh air to and from the interior
Insulating the indoors against heat and cold
Provide an acoustic barrier against outside noise.

To help serve those needs, you’ll need to use suitable exterior cladding options.

Types of Exterior Cladding

Fortunately, there is a generous selection of wall claddings you can choose from today. And, depending on your building supplier's catalogue, you can get as personal as you wish.

Brick, glass, plastic, and steel claddings have dominated in the recent past. But exterior cladding materials such as wood and newer facades are taking over in places such as London.

Here are some modern cladding options so you can choose the best exterior cladding for your needs:

Vinyl cladding – It lasts a long time and offers excellent insulation. But it is a fire hazard, including producing toxic smoke when it burns.
Timber cladding is a super versatile cladding material, natural, non-toxic, and can withstand much abuse. Still, it needs specialized treatment to do that.
Composite cladding is a low-maintenance option, uses minimal production energy, cost-effective, and lightweight. But how well they do in the long-term is still under observation since it is still a new cladding idea.
Fibre cement cladding is made to look and behave as wooden cladding does. It can last a long time and be made to serve a variety of purposes. Yet, it may require more maintenance in terms of washing and repainting than other options here.
Metallic cladding is an excellent option for beating all weather conditions, microbial growth, and it lasts a long time. It includes aluminium cladding. However, the metal cladding may be expensive to install or replace.
Stucco cladding – It is an excellent thermal insulator if you want to maintain warmth indoors. Still, it is not suitable for wet climates as it is made from layers of Portland cement, which can deteriorate in such conditions.

There are more types of new façade cladding systems such as the following:

High-Pressure Laminates (HPL)
Glass Reinforced Gypsum (GRG)
Terracotta
Corian

How Do You Clad an Outside Wall?

Once you’ve decided on the best type of exterior cladding to install, the next step is easily the toughest.

Cladding your building means adding extra weight to the exterior structure. And that might require you to strengthen the interior design as well.

That’s why it is smart to consult an expert exterior wall cladding in Australia well in advance of your project.

That way, you can start your project with all the supporting information, designs, and structural materials to help accommodate your building’s new standards, look, and feel.