Timber Cladding a possibility for an entrance???

bfclancy

Hi, i have an entrance to my house, its just plain block skew back either side of a metal gate and i'm looking for an alternative way to finish the blockwork away from stone, brick or render, Would cladding it in cedar or some other type of wood be appropriate, how would it look, would it be durable enough.
Attached are images of the entrance. So i was thinking battens on the wall running vertically and the cladding fixed to this with maybe a large piece of timber as a wall cap, similar dimensions to an old railway sleeper.

listermint

cedar very durable, expensive though vertical installation yes. best to horizontal batten for ease of installation and space horizontal battens from wall surface with either timber or plastic spacers, this is for drainage so the horizontals dont keep water in. Also allows air around the back to extend the life of the cedar.

Nice idea tbh, entrances can be so drab when left with render finish. it would be a good distinction to the entrance to finish it well.

Pkiernan

Just one word of caution. Did planninf for the house specify the type of finish on the wall?

listermint

Pkiernan wrote: »

Just one word of caution. Did planninf for the house specify the type of finish on the wall?

very fair question.


enforcement though... ... . ... . youd want to have put up some absolute mad stuff for any complaints to be registered.

bfclancy

Must check my planning conditions see if a finish was specified to entrance.
So Listermint you are suggesting fixing a horizontal batten (perhaps a treated 2*2 or 2*1 express nailed to the wall for example) to the wall and then vertical lengths of cedar with a spacer behind the horizontal batten in order to let moisture weep down through. I think it would look well but would love to see an image of something similar done somewhere.

Lumen

I love wood but I think it will be expensive and look weird.

Cladding tall boundary walls looks OK because you can only see one side of them.

In this case you'll see the top and back, so are you going to clad those too?

looksee

You have invited opinions on how it would look - so my contribution: I think it would look a bit odd, entirely unrelated to the house. No problem with cedar cladding, but it needs a bit of rationale and against a rendered bungalow with absolutely no timber trim I am not seeing it looking well. It would not match the gates either.

I also think you will find you have planning restrictions.

jack of all

I think the other posters have a valid point- timber cladding (especially cedar and iroko) can look great but it's not referenced anywhere else in your external elevations. The big mistake I see people making with entrances is using very thin/ skimpy precast copings (they look mean/ ran out of money). A nice heaving coping, maybe insitu concrete and a good rendering can look good. I love a fine wet dash, but it's not to everyone's taste. If you go for the rendered finish it will set off any planting/ shrubbery you plant behind it.

Calahonda52

For all the reasons stated above I think it's the wrong answer.

good render coat anyway
3 coats, scratch/base/finish, with the proper plasticiser and not fairy liquid.
Put the proper rain drip normally mould at the dpc line in a house wall ( cant remember the proper name) and maybe paint the lower piece black

bfclancy

Lot to mull over, the reason i asked was to see if anyone had examples i was unsure as to how it would look either. Its probably a no so and that's fair enough. Problem is now its a single skin of block and any capping in situ or not will look skimpy, probably requires another block on edge to bring it to a 225mm thick wall and then cast a cap on top, i'll be painting it forever more

listermint

The big mistake alot of people do is trying to tie in continuity all over the build. It stinks of old architectural practice. The amount of abysmal homes around with faux stone elevation tied in with same faux stone entrance walls is gas. Continuity doesn't have to exist in the house whatsoever a balance of different materials and contrast in colours would make the house look far more fresh than the business of sameness. Rendering that wall would add nothing special. And I'm a fan of fresh render.

seannash

listermint wrote: »

The big mistake alot of people do is trying to tie in continuity all over the build. It stinks of old architectural practice. The amount of abysmal homes around with faux stone elevation tied in with same faux stone entrance walls is gas. Continuity doesn't have to exist in the house whatsoever a balance of different materials and contrast in colours would make the house look far more fresh than the business of sameness. Rendering that wall would add nothing special. And I'm a fan of fresh render.

Some thing like this?


https://trenduhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Fabulous-Wooden-Fence-Design-Ideas-For-Home-31.jpg

I dont think it would be horrible but i think perhaps of the natural wood maybe paint it a dark black/blue.

If you do decide to go with it the plants amd landscaping around it will make or break it.

Took another look at the pictures, I dont think it'll work. Its a very contemporary look and the house looks like a normal house, albeit a nice one.

seannash

listermint wrote: »

The big mistake alot of people do is trying to tie in continuity all over the build. It stinks of old architectural practice. The amount of abysmal homes around with faux stone elevation tied in with same faux stone entrance walls is gas. Continuity doesn't have to exist in the house whatsoever a balance of different materials and contrast in colours would make the house look far more fresh than the business of sameness. Rendering that wall would add nothing special. And I'm a fan of fresh render.

I do agree with this, probably why we see those all pine interiors however i dont think the wooden front would look good. Possibly would on its own. If i was dead set on the timber entranceway id make sure the view of the house was obstructed from the road so they could almost be two separate entities

seannash

Oh one more thing, cedar or iroko being durable. It is but it will silver. It wont hold its colour unless you treat it almost yearly so no gwtting away from painting no matter what you pick.
Unless you want that silvered look

bfclancy

seannash wrote: »

Some thing like this?


https://trenduhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Fabulous-Wooden-Fence-Design-Ideas-For-Home-31.jpg

I dont think it would be horrible but i think perhaps of the natural wood maybe paint it a dark black/blue.

If you do decide to go with it the plants amd landscaping around it will make or break it.

Took another look at the pictures, I dont think it'll work. Its a very contemporary look and the house looks like a normal house, albeit a nice one.

I think that would look well, for a bit of extra context the reverse view shows a cross the road a hardwood forest with ash, beech, birch, roan etc

seannash

bfclancy wrote: »

I think that would look well, for a bit of extra context the reverse view shows a cross the road a hardwood forest with ash, beech, birch, roan etc

I agree from that view it would look good. Id still recommend you block the view of the house from the road for it to work without it looking too out of place

mycro2013

Plaster the walls first, this will give you a second option , easy to fix the timber after to the wall with a few batons.

Lumen

seannash wrote: »

Some thing like this?


https://trenduhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Fabulous-Wooden-Fence-Design-Ideas-For-Home-31.jpg

That's a fence attached to a cladded pier. That might just about make sense, if you needed to hang heavy gates.

What's proposed is cladding a wall and a pier. It just doesn't make any sense, architecturally, unless it's a party wall that you don't control, which this isn't.

Wall, fence, pick one.

Otherwise it will look like you built an ugly wall and then decided to cover it up.

seannash

Lumen wrote: »

That's a fence attached to a cladded pier. That might just about make sense, if you needed to hang heavy gates.

What's proposed is cladding a wall and a pier. It just doesn't make any sense, architecturally, unless it's a party wall that you don't control, which this isn't.

Wall, fence, pick one.

Otherwise it will look like you built an ugly wall and then decided to cover it up.

But if you wrap the wall in cladding who will know whats behind it.

Lumen

seannash wrote: »

But if you wrap the wall in cladding who will know whats behind it.

Aha! Well that's the thing isn't it, anyone who knows walls and fences.

I admit I have unreasonably strong views on walls and fences. I have books on walls and photo albums of fences. So feel free to write me off as an extremist.

seannash

Lumen wrote: »

Aha! Well that's the thing isn't it, anyone who knows walls and fences.

I admit I have unreasonably strong views on walls and fences
I have books on walls and photo albums of fences. So feel free to write me off as an extremist.

Perfectly understandable, however you might be an outlier in terms of people who will see this 😄

caddy16

bfclancy wrote: »

Hi, i have an entrance to my house, its just plain block skew back either side of a metal gate and i'm looking for an alternative way to finish the blockwork away from stone, brick or render, Would cladding it in cedar or some other type of wood be appropriate, how would it look, would it be durable enough.
Attached are images of the entrance. So i was thinking battens on the wall running vertically and the cladding fixed to this with maybe a large piece of timber as a wall cap, similar dimensions to an old railway sleeper.

Like the gate, can you pm supplier please.

listermint

seannash wrote: »

Some thing like this?


https://trenduhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Fabulous-Wooden-Fence-Design-Ideas-For-Home-31.jpg

I dont think it would be horrible but i think perhaps of the natural wood maybe paint it a dark black/blue.

If you do decide to go with it the plants amd landscaping around it will make or break it.

Took another look at the pictures, I dont think it'll work. Its a very contemporary look and the house looks like a normal house, albeit a nice one.

Nice colour choice I like it.

The front of the house has tin cladding or extruded aluminium. I don't think that's quite normal tbh.


One good thing I've been told was . 'it doesn't have to make sense, it has to make sense to you'

listermint

Lumen wrote: »

That's a fence attached to a cladded pier. That might just about make sense, if you needed to hang heavy gates.

What's proposed is cladding a wall and a pier. It just doesn't make any sense, architecturally, unless it's a party wall that you don't control, which this isn't.

Wall, fence, pick one.

Otherwise it will look like you built an ugly wall and then decided to cover it up.

Extremely odd way of looking at things tbh lumen. We have whole industries built on the concept of cladding systems. It's in the term cladding you are actually cladding a wall. It doesn't mean the wall is crap in fact the wall should be decent quality to take the cladding .

There are so many cladding systems available it would make your head spin.

bfclancy

I believe i may go with the cedar cladding, anyone know a good supplier in the Munster area

Lumen

listermint wrote: »

Extremely odd way of looking at things tbh lumen. We have whole industries built on the concept of cladding systems. It's in the term cladding you are actually cladding a wall. It doesn't mean the wall is crap in fact the wall should be decent quality to take the cladding .

There are so many cladding systems available it would make your head spin.

Freestanding wall vs wall of dwelling. Completely different requirements.

listermint

Lumen wrote: »

Freestanding wall vs wall of dwelling. Completely different requirements.

Completely untrue. Cladding systems don't make the distinction. Your a purist though wall means wall fence means fence. You must shout at walls and fences around Dublin city :P

bfclancy

To be honest i can take down the two walls and leave the piers to hang the gate there was only a few hours work in the building of it but i'd rather leave the wall there as i have no place to dispose of a couple of hundred blocks (and i'm not a purist)

Lumen

listermint wrote: »

Completely untrue. Cladding systems don't make the distinction. Your a purist though wall means wall fence means fence. You must shout at walls and fences around Dublin city :P

I do. Those stone faced block walls around South Dublin drive me nuts. Particularly the vertical crazy paving type where the bed of the stone runs in the plane of the wall.

What is the point of a freestanding wall clad in wood? What does it achieve, functionally or aesthetically, that a fence alone doesn't?

The only thing I can think of is to stop someone driving through it, but that is more efficiently achieved with a berm or ditch.

bfclancy

you're not a very practical person are you, in this scenario my wall was built purely to form an entranceway when the house was built with materials left over from the build at a low cost that i could complete myself. Now eighteen months down the line i want to do something aesthetically pleasing

mickdw

I think you will have a bit too much going on if you put too much detail on the entrance.
The bay window sitting in the front facing gable is a busy enough feature.
Id render the wall and use a simple cap but there is something wrong with the layout of the entrance walls. It looks terrible when looking towards the road.