Choosing the best wood cladding material for your rain screen design depends on a lot of different factors.
From a design criteria, the most important criteria to select wood rainscreen cladding are; your project’s design and color scheme, project budget and ultimately, which wood siding material you like best. From a performance standpoint, strength, stability and durability are also key considerations for selecting the right architectural cladding for your rainscreen design. All of the wood rainscreen cladding species we manufacture are high density hardwood siding materials and meet all of the above design and performance criteria. All of the medium-high density and high density hardwoods such as Ipe siding, Machiche siding, Garapa siding and Santa Maria siding have plenty of great looks, strength, durability and stability.
Choosing Rain Screen Cladding Based On Performance
For project design goals such as 
finding a siding material that is durable enough to last as long as the rain screen system and the rest of your entire structure, all high density hardwood siding options work exceptionally well. This is one reason why the superior durability of long lasting hardwood siding and cladding options really outshine all other siding options. High density hardwood cladding options are the hands down winner for long lasting wood rain screen systems.
Choosing Rain Screen Cladding Based on Color Scheme
From an appearance and color scheme standpoint, finding a rain screen cladding option to fit your project’s color scheme might start with the question: “Would you like to let your siding mellow to a silvery gray patina over time or would you prefer the original ‘new wood’ look for your rain screen project.” If your answer to that question is “I would like my wood siding to age and silver gracefully”, then any of the high density hardwood cladding options will work great for your project. Ipe siding, Cumaru, Machiche, Santa Maria and Garapa siding will all mellow to a natural silvery gray patina if left to weather naturally outdoors.
Finish Options for Wood Rain Screen Cladding
If you prefer to have your hardwood rainscreen cladding look like new wood, there are a few options available. One option to maintain the color of wood siding is to use an oil-based penetrating sealer such as Penofin® for Hardwood. Penofin is made from natural rosewood oils and provides UV protection for the wood cladding while enriching the wood’s natural colors. The downside is that Penofin, like other oil finishes, will weather off over a fairly short period of time and require periodic maintenance coats if you wish to keep the ‘like new wood’ appearance.
There are now several nano-particle technology coatings available on the market that show a lot of promise for staining high density hardwood cladding, decking and exterior lumber. We are in the process of testing two of these high-tech coatings on Ipe, Cumaru, Machiche, Santa Maria and Garapa cladding and decking materials. The nano-sized particles allow microscopic penetration into the extremely fine cellular pores of high density hardwoods of Ipe, Cumaru and Machiche. These coatings appear to hold up well over extended periods of time, better than oil based finishes, and help high density hardwood siding maintain its tinted color. We like both of these exterior finish coatings very much and will keep you updated with the progress of our testing.
Please follow any of the links below to learn more about the Climate-Shield Rain Screen Wood Siding System, rain screen installation and wood siding options.
Climate-Shield Rain Screen Wood Siding System
Rain Screen Architectural Details
REQUEST A FREE QUOTE FOR A RAIN SCREEN SYSTEM TODAY
For a wealth of information about rain screen systems, please download a FREE copy of, “The Ultimate Guide to Building Green with Rain Screen Wood Siding”. Download your FREE Rainscreen Guide by clicking on the button below:
Related Posts
