House cladding is an essential part of a home’s exterior—serving as a decoration and protection from elements like wind, rain, and sunlight. If you’re looking to doll up your home and increase its mechanical strength, house cladding is a feature that you can always incorporate into it.
Here, we present the best house cladding options that will be popular in 2022. Depending on what you need, you will have more than a dozen cladding options to choose from next year. Some options are more expensive than others, but they provide advantages like increased longevity. Selections like PVCu can provide an environment-friendly alternative that is also recyclable. You can easily check the pros and cons of most options that are present below.
2022 exterior house cladding options by material
Timber composite
The material is known as a combination of several elements such as plastics and wood fibres. By using timber composite, you can achieve the look of natural wood without its known drawbacks, such as decaying and warping.
Fibre cement weatherboarding
The material is resistant to fire, rot, bacteria, and most weather conditions. The only downside compared to timber hardwood is that the boards are a little heavier.
Softwood timber cladding (painted or treated)
Softwood is known for serving as a light but durable material with bare covering. That bare covering allows for easier use with finishes and adhesives. Unfortunately, the bare covering also means that painting or treating it is a must.
Timber cladding (hardwood)
Hardwood comes with a more natural covering compared to softwood. It provides stronger material to insulate one’s house, though the price will be higher.
Timber cladding (heat-treated)
Heat-treated timber can provide a lot of advantages. Increased longevity, added humidity resistance, and rot prevention are some of the known benefits.
Concrete tiles
Concrete tiles have always been a robust material that can be used on any building project. They’re known for both their durability and longevity. They are usually recommended for weathering against extreme weather conditions.
Slate tiles
Slate cladding is now considered an optimal building material. It’s known to be durable, low maintenance and even environmentally friendly. The material is lightweight and also very long-lasting in comparison to similar materials.
Natural stone
Natural stone cladding is durable and resistant to weathering. Some varieties are appropriate for preventing mildew and humidity. Installing them is easy, though the cost for the material is a little high.
Artificial stone
Artificial stone cladding is a more affordable option than natural stones. It is both durable and lightweight, which means it can have multiple building uses.
Metal
Metal cladding is usually known for being resistant to corrosion and water damage. It is also very low maintenance, requiring only basic cleaning most of the time.
PVCu
Also known as vinyl flooring, it is plastic-based and cheaper than a lot of other options. It’s also faster to install while being water and mildew-resistant. The materials are also recyclable.
Brick
Brick cladding is a longtime household favourite. It is both fireproof and heavily resistant to any external or internal conditions. It’s only drawback is that it takes up a large construction area.
Brick slips
Slips are thin cuts of standard bricks. They offer a lot more design flexibility in comparison to regular bricks and don’t take up as much space. The downside is that they can be more expensive than regular bricks.
Rendering
Applying a coat of render provides extra thermal insulation and damp prevention. The main drawback is that it costs a lot more than most of the other options laid out here.
Three coats of masonry paint
Applying masonry paint is one of the easier and simpler options. You don’t need to consult building insurance or building codes to apply this cladding type. The more coats you apply, the longer the longevity may last, since masonry paint usually contains anti-bacterial and anti-fungal additives.
Exterior house cladding prices
Please note that these prices below are just estimates. The actual cost depends on the specific material and brand you use.
- Hardwood Timber Cladding – Variants like Australian Beech costs $6.45 per linear metre.
- Softwood Timber Cladding – Around $40 per square metre
- Timber Composite – Around $57 per square metre
- Heat-treated Timber Cladding – Around $9.61 – $19.05 per linear metre
- Artificial Stone Cladding – Around $100 – $130 per square metre
- Brick – Standard clay bricks can cost around $560 – $779
- Brick Slips – Around $44 – $69 per tile
- Masonry Paint – Around $34 – 275$ a can.
- Render – Around $30 – $80 per square metre
- Natural Stone – Around $45 – $83 per tile. Prices may change depending on tile size.
- Concrete Tiles – Around $35 – $170 per square metre
- PVCu – $30 per square metre for budget tiles.
- Slate Tiles – Around $59
- Metal – A basic sheet of aluminium cladding costs around $14 per metre
- Fibre Cement Weatherboarding – Around $3.20 per linear metre
Things to remember before cladding your home
- When arranging the siding or exterior cladding of your house, you need to be sure it’s attached to a solid base. We suggest you use either a steel or wooden frame that’s supported by the building’s structure.
- Bricking, render and cladding are all solid options you can use for your exterior walls. But if you’re looking to address your thermal insulation, bricking isn’t very effective. Of the other two, render is arguably more cost-effective, even if it will be more expensive initially.
- To prevent rain leakage and condensation, many choose to utilize rain screens. It’s a method that uses an inner layer for insulation and an outer layer to keep out the rain.
- You can save time and money by treating only a certain part of the house. Cladding the whole property can be wasteful if it doesn’t improve anything else. If you’re only after the decorative aspect, then we recommend painting certain parts.
- Before purchasing materials, always double-check. For one, you might still find cheaper options with other sources. For another, you need to know the warranty of each material. You also need to be sure that the building insurance provider does not have any issues with your plans.
- If you’re only after the cheapest options available, you can use the masonry paint option. Other affordable selections include timber that has yet to be treated or painted.
House cladding design ideas you should try in 2022
Here are some house cladding designs to inspire your home renovation project:
Design idea #1
For a contemporary design, you might want to try a tray standing seam roofing and walling system. This style of cladding can be attached to wall girts and roof purlins while managed by a clip system. Here’s a cladding idea from Stratco:
Design idea #2
If your home is located in a tropical area, you should try using a timber cladding build. Combining a skillion roof design with golden tan colours will make for a stunning home design. Below is an inspiring design from Modinex:
Design idea #3
This charcoal-colored home by Knotwood is a great example of a contemporary design. It draws upon the texture of natural wood and combines it with an application of aluminum.
Design idea #4
For a wood-friendly, contemporary home design, you can try this specific combo. It combines a charcoal exterior colour with white ash cladding to achieve a warm home design.
Design idea #5
For those looking to achieve a neat, wood home build this might be up your alley. It involves using hardwood cladding and applying Ironbark colours to get a beautiful modern home facade.
Design idea #6
If you’re searching for a sophisticated look, this Modinex home might interest you. It utilizes a pre-finished high-pressure laminate facade combined with black ebony colours.
Conclusion
For those wondering, there are regulations that govern cladding in certain areas. In New South Wales, the rules dictate restrictions on combustible cladding and it is completely banned within one and two-story houses.
We recommend you check local regulations first before purchasing cladding materials. The computations above may also change depending on brand and applied labour fees.
Keep in mind potential maintenance efforts and expenses. Try to find the cladding design that will suit your surroundings.
Certain materials above may also be referred to differently by manufacturers. For example, artificial stone is also known as stone veneer. Don’t forget to clarify these terms when looking up suppliers.
If you’re planning to renovate your home and incorporate cladding, take advantage of a free-to-use project coordination platform like Dreamspace. When you sign up for Dreamspace, you can collect design inspirations, build your project brief, get free quotes, and connect with building design experts. You can also get free-of-charge project consultations via phone and live video chat. For more information, click here.
