Air dried jointed oak cladding

Oak grows widely across the whole of the British Isles and continental Europe and for centuries has been used in all aspects of construction. Despite the loss of much of our native woodland, there continues to be a viable supply of British oak and we make every effort to ensure that all oak logs supplied to Vastern Timber originate from either independently certified woodlands or those managed under the strict guidelines of the Forestry Commission. English oak has many environmental benefits, including a reduction in carbon emissions from transport and the contributing of funds to our native forest management.

Dry oak is normally used for profiled Cladding Sections and is either naturally dried or kiln dried to a moisture level of 15 – 25%. A wide range of colours is common in newly machined English oak, with tones including golden honey and chocolate brown. As the cladding weathers, the colour variation between the boards will decrease and they will turn to a natural silver.

The jointing process

These jointed boards, supplied in standard 4.0mt lengths, are created by mechanically bonding a number of shorter lengths together in a high pressure press using moisture resistant glue.

The process of jointing oak allows us to offer cladding boards with fewer of the problems associated with oak and more of the environmental benefits that make Timber Cladding such an attractive building material. Utilising shorter lengths of oak allows us to increase the yield (and therefore the value) of the forest resource and reduce the waste in our sawmills – all of which is good news!

Furthermore, jointed boards are longer, less prone to distortion and of a better and more consistent quality than standard oak boards.

Tannic Acid

One feature of oak cladding that must be considered is the high tannin content. During the first few months after the cladding has been attached, tannin will exude from the boards, resulting in streaks and stains where it comes in to contact with masonry or render . Tannin also corrodes ferrous metal, so it is therefore important to use either Stainless Steel fixings. Additionally care should be taken to keep other ferrous metal such as scaffolding away from the cladding to avoid staining of the boards.