Choosing a wooden facade – where to start?

If you are planning to build or replace a wooden facade, the choice of wood cladding is crucial – from both an aesthetic and a practical point of view. Below we go through the three most popular types: vertical cladding, horizontal cladding and board-and-batten cladding. We explain how they differ and add useful installation tips for carpenters.

Which wood should you choose for a facade?

• Spruce – the most common choice for wooden facades. Good durability and often an attractive price.
• Pine – slightly more absorbent than spruce, but excellent with a suitable surface finish.
• Pine or spruce heartwood – a longer service life and natural resistance to rot.

Whichever wood species you choose, treat the surface well and use corrosion-resistant fasteners.

How do you prepare facade boards before installation?

• Choose factory-primed cladding or apply the primer yourself before installation.
• If you want to paint the cladding, use a vapour-permeable paint to avoid moisture problems.

Tip: If you do not want to paint the fasteners, use one of our ready-made lacquered fasteners. Both nails and screws come in many colours.

Tip: Paint in dry weather and not in direct sunlight. Optimum temperature: from +10 to +25 °C.

Horizontally installed facade boards

Horizontal cladding gives a building a classic, horizontal look, typical of older Swedish houses, especially in southern Sweden. The most popular option is traditional Swedish lap cladding (also called overlapping cladding).

Advantages of horizontal installation:

• The building looks wider and lower – on single-storey houses this often looks good.
• Easier installation on facades with windows and doors, because the cladding meets them in straight lines.

Installation tips:

• Install the boards so that the bottom edge sticks out slightly (away from the wall).
• Fix the top of each board so that the board below it can move freely.
• To avoid discolouration, use stainless steel nails or screws.

In this article you can find out more about how to prevent discolouration of a wooden facade.

Vertically installed facade boards

Vertical cladding is often used to make a house look taller and slimmer. Typical types are smooth cladding, cladding with a wavy profile or profiled cladding.

Advantages of vertical installation:

• When installed correctly, it drains water away effectively.
• Depending on the surface finish, it gives the building a more modern or Scandinavian look.

Installation tips:

• Always install on horizontal battens so that there is good ventilation behind the cladding.
• Do not drive nails through the tongue and groove joint, i.e. through two boards at once – drive them on the tongue side so that each board can move freely.
• Make sure the first board is exactly plumb – crooked cladding catches the eye immediately!

Board-and-batten facade boards

Board-and-batten cladding is a variant of vertical cladding in which wide bottom boards are covered by narrower cover boards.

Advantages of board-and-batten cladding:

• Very good weather resistance – particularly suitable for exposed locations.
• Gives the building a solid, rustic character – popular for cottages, barns and modern timber-frame buildings.

Installation tips:

• Install on two layers of battens (horizontal and vertical) for a firm fixing and good ventilation.
• First lay the bottom boards with gaps between them, then fit the cover boards on top to cover the joints.
• Always use treated timber, ideally primed before installation.

Which type of wooden facade should you choose?

The choice between vertical, horizontal and board-and-batten cladding depends on the look you want and on the conditions in which the building stands. Horizontal cladding suits houses with a sprawling shape, vertical cladding makes a building look taller, and board-and-batten cladding is very weather-resistant.

Use our guide

6 steps to correct installation ⮕