HOUSE CARE / Benefits of Maintaining Your Timber Cladding

For most homeowners, the family house is our largest asset, as well as being the base for our sense of security. This is where our children grow up and where we return to after a long day, and it also holds our precious belongings and guards us against adverse weather and other dangers.

For this reason, most people have comprehensive insurance policies in place to cover them against unexpected events. However, many of those same homeowners skip out on regular home maintenance.

Annual maintenance is a similar safeguard to insurance. When carried out regularly, it ensures your cladding continues to perform effectively against all the elements that nature presents, along with general wear and tear.

Regular upkeep also preserves the beauty of your home, especially with stain-finished timber, retaining its street appeal as it ages.

As a natural product, timber cladding requires regular maintenance to prevent air pollutants from settling on the surface and losing their protective coating when exposed to wet weather.

Timber cladding products generally fall under B2.3.1(b) of the Building Code, which means they have a 15-year lifetime requirement, although most claddings will last well past 15 years if well maintained. Vulcan Cladding for example, is designed with a minimum expected above-ground service life of 30-40 years if maintained correctly.

As described in this article by BRANZ, washing exterior surfaces, maintaining finish coatings and ensuring minimum clearances must be maintained across the building’s lifetime to prevent moisture from entering the home and causing damage.

Most cladding products come with specific instructions around cleaning and maintenance, which should be passed on to the homeowner by the contractor as a means of consumer protection.

Generally, this will specify the products that can be used to wash the cladding and how often this should be carried out, as well as the frequency of refinishing required if the cladding has a coating.

To maintain the beauty of your Abodo timber weatherboards, it is necessary to wash them every year. Whether you do this yourself or bring in the experts, spring is a good time to get it done.

Here are our top tips for washing your cladding:

• Use warm water, mild detergent or timber cleaner.
• Apply with a soft bristle brush and rinse off with a hose.
• Do not use high pressure water blasters - these can damage the wood.

Be aware of timber cleaning products with excessive chemicals, as these can persist in the wood and surrounding environment.

For more care information specific to Abodo timbers and coatings, have a look at our full instructions for maintenance.