As each garden room that we build is individually designed, we offer a selection of exterior cladding options. The type of cladding you choose can vary in cost and will therefore influence our quotation for your garden building. We’ve put together this guide on some of the most common cladding options, which should help you decide which will suit your taste and fit within your budget.
Budget Friendly Feather Edge Timber (Redwood)
Feather edge timber is the most cost-effective type of cladding we offer. However, don’t let this budget-friendly material make you believe it is of a lower quality! In fact, it is just as sturdy and durable as other cladding options. Our Feather Edge Timber is pressure-treated (or tanalised) by our supplier to protect it against rot and is therefore a long lasting material. The name ‘feather edge’ reflects the way the boards overlap and are tapered – like a feather. We always lay this cladding horizontally. You can see this cladding on this Garden Room with Pitched Roof design in West Sussex.
Feather Edge Timber is also available stained in black. We have seen an increasing demand for this style. Depending upon how you design the rest of your garden room space, this cladding can make your design modern or rustic. We think it looks incredibly contemporary against the bi-fold doors in our Bespoke Black Garden Office design. And yet, it conveys a rustic barn-like charm in designs such as this Painting Studio in the Garden.
Mid Range Tongue & Groove Treated Timber (Redwood)
This is one of our most popular cladding options because it looks great and is budget-friendly. We can lay this horizontally or vertically due to the way the profile of each board joins together. Like the feather-edge, this timber has been treated by our supplier to protect it against rot. The timber will naturally silver over time, but several of our customers have chosen to stain it post-build. You can see the stained cladding on our Luxury Living Room in the Garden (see first image below) or as it comes on the Graphic Designer’s Garden Studio (see second image below).
Contemporary Western Red Cedar
Western red cedar cladding is an extremely popular choice amongst garden room owners. It is one of the more expensive cladding options we offer. As it is usually imported from forests in Canada and North America, the price of this material has been known to fluctuate since the pandemic and other recent disruptions to the supply chain. However, if your budget will allow and you love the rich colour of this wood, then it’s a worthwhile long term investment. After all, you’ll be using your garden building for decades to come!
Cedar has a natural resistance to rot, moisture and is even insect-repelling. We can lay it horizontally or vertically on your garden room. It will naturally grey-down over time, so we suggest that the cladding is protected with a UV treatment every 18 months or so. We recommend using Osmo 420 Clear Satin.
Colourful Hardie Plank Fibre Cement Board
Fibre Cement Cladding is maintenance-free and UV-resistant. It is therefore incredibly durable and requires little maintenance compared to timber. If you want to add a splash of colour to your garden studio design, then this cladding comes in a range of colours via our supplier James Hardie. An advantage of this long-lasting material is that it is fire-resistant – perfect for garden annexes which will need to meet building regulations. ‘Boothbay Blue’ is just one of the colours we have worked with as seen on this Garden Room Gym with Hot Tub Area in West Sussex. At present, fibre cement board cladding is a cheaper alternative to cedar.
Low-maintenance Composite Cladding
Like fibre cement cladding, composite cladding is also rot, UV and insect repelling, requiring little maintenance. Whilst most commonly, the Fibre Cement Hardie Plank cladding is laid horizontally in a feather-edge style, the composite cladding is laid in a tongue and groove style. This means we can clad horizontally or vertically. All of our suppliers have a focus on sustainability which we love! Envirobuild’s composite cladding comes in a range of neutral colours. You can see their cladding in the colour ‘Stone’ on our Corner Garden Room Sewing Studio or in the image below.
If you would like a composite cladding that looks more like a natural timber, then you may wish to look at samples from Millboard or Ecoscape. Ecoscape offer a slatted style of cladding which is fantastic if you are looking for a modern finish on your garden building like the design below. At present, all of our composite cladding options are a cheaper alternative to cedar.
Corrugated Metal Cladding
Corrugated steel panels are commonly seen on agricultural and industrial buildings such as barns and warehouses. But did you know that they look great on a garden room? If you are looking for a garden design that pushes design boundaries, then this could be the cladding option for you. This is used on large buildings due to its durability, so it will have longevity on a garden studio too. We have used this material on one of our favourite projects to date, the Corrugated Steel Garden Room with Apex Roof.
