Balancing durability with aesthetics can not only impact the overall look of a home, but its life-time maintenance costs and overall longevity too. Most residential builds will involve some form of maintenance during their lifetime, so understanding how a client prioritises lifestyle versus property maintenance is an important aspect to discuss during the early stages of planning.
When it comes to considering exterior cladding options, it’s no surprise the adage “One size fits all” doesn’t ring true with today’s specifiers and homeowners. Combining different textures, materials and using contrasting colour, creates unexpected interest and individuality — a look that’s gaining popularity in urban environments, and is a move away from the monochromatic look that’s dominated suburban New Zealand in recent times.
Dark colours are hot—literally
Dark coloured exteriors are increasingly popular in New Zealand. However, dark colours do attract and retain more heat than lighter shades and this can cause number of issues for painted timber weatherboards, particularly around colour fading, chalking and even timber failure, not to mention heating and insulation issues.
The traditional timber weatherboard look while still popular, can be costly and time-consuming to maintain. With repainting recommended every seven to ten years, costs increase if scaffolding hire is required to paint a second storey. Furthermore, failing to maintain timber can lead to even more costly repercussions which may lead to increased costs over the lifetime of the building.
One way to avoid heat stress on your cladding is to use various cladding materials and a mix of light and dark shades to balance out the heat build-up.
The growing preference for mixed cladding
Mixed material cladding has taken off in New Zealand, and is widely favoured in new and developing areas. In large residential development projects where whole suburbs of homes are being built en-mass, mixed material cladding is encouraged as a means to generate a diverse yet modern area full of contrast and texture, where thoughtful combinations and use of materials blend to create a desirable living aesthetic.
Cladding manufacturers have embraced mixed cladding too. With weatherboard being New Zealand’s perennial favourite cladding, the manufacturer of uPVC weatherboard, Palliside, have designed their products to make them easy to incorporate into mixed material designs.
Alternative weatherboard cladding such as Palliside uPVC weatherboards, can provide the same great looks as timber, without the need to repaint or stain. Palliside weatherboards pair well with other cladding materials such as profiled metal, stone and glass, as proven by this Christchurch home designed by Peter Wynyard of Archimetrix.
When compared to other weatherboard material options, Palliside is not only competitively priced to install, but also has the additional ‘peace-of-mind’ benefit of a generous 25 years manufacturer guarantee. BRANZ appraised Palliside, is UV resistant and never needs painting, so there’s no resin bleed, fading or chalking and it offers an ideal complement to darker cladding materials that may require higher levels of maintenance.
For more information or to request a sample pack, please visit the Palliside website or call 0800 439639.