Cedar wood cladding or cedral (external) - any experience good or bad?.

[frazzeled]

We re about to renovate house - and are considering wood cladding on some of the outside. We had looked at cedral, but love the look of cedar.

We are coastal, so the cedral looks like a sensible option, but is much more expensive than cedar. DH concerned if we have real wood it will weather badly and need lots of maintenance. Any wisdom shared would be greatly appreciated - all the companies of course think they're products are the best!

cedar is, for a softwood, reasonably durable, because it is a bit oily. You can either let it weather to a silver grey, or you can treat it every year or two with a modern waxy stain, or with real cedar oil. I don't know anyone who uses real cedar oil outside these days.

I have some external shiplap which I treat every couple of years with linseed oil, which is very cheap and seems to last well. It gives a more transparent finish than stains, which obscure the grain. I coloured it with Colron to match the adjacent hardwood joinery.

External timber with an upwards-facing surface will go black and rot eventually.

As it will need regular treatment, I would hesitate to have wood cladding above the height I could reach with a stepladder.

I understand Cedral is a synthetic material which does not need decorative treatment.

Thanks piglet - you are the fountain of knowledge on all things!! Cedral is a concrete composite - but does look very realistic - just much more expensive! Very popular where we live due to coastal conditions. It I for the upper half of the house - so not sure if I fancy climbing a very large ladder to treat cedar every few years!