There are a whole host of cladding options out there. The beauty of a bespoke garden room is that you can have any one of them, or several. However it can be difficult to know the best option to go for.
So here are some of the most common ones.
Contemporary Style Cladding
Cedar. A vertical untreated cedar cladding is very popular not just with garden rooms but also developments and high rise buildings. Although it is a softwood, it is very dense and tough, and has natural oils which deter rot and insects. It will eventually weather down into a silvery grey.
Siberian Larch. Like cedar, larch is a dense softwood, and self-sealing so it wont need constant maintenance. It is lighter in colour and a bit cheaper but otherwise similar in most respects.
Softwood shiplap. This is the cheapest option for a garden room, and a good chunky 25mm profile can look quite reasonable. The downside is it will need treating every few years or it will eventually start to deteriorate.
Thermowood. A heat treated softwood that is completely impervious to rot and generally guaranteed for the lifetime of the building. The treatment process makes the timber a dark brown, and also very lightweight and quite brittle. It's one of the cheapest options out there for a zero maintenance cladding, but it can actually dent quite easily if you knock it.
Composite. There are lots of composite cladding options on the market, such as Ecoscape. These are not subject to deterioration and will not require any maintenance. They will also retain their colour without weathering in. The only downside is that the texture is only veneer deep, so if it gets chipped or damaged it is very noticeable.
English Cottage Style Cladding
Lots of bespoke garden rooms and timber garages wont want a contemporary cladding, depending on the style of the outbuilding. Below are a couple of horizontal options that are very popular.
Oak featheredge. Long lasting but with a soft horizontal profile, oak will weather down to a discreet grey. Ideal when using cedar shingles, or a corrugated roof.
Larch waney edge. This gives the building character, with irregular horizontal boards complete with bark. Popular in the country where you don't want lots of hard lines.
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