Special
Wall cladding : wood versus composite
THE MANY ASSETS OF WESTERN RED CEDAR A LIGHT AND YET RELATIVELY STURDY WOOD SORT IS PERFECT FOR A WALL Roderik Vandervennet (Jadimex - B) ‘Also spreading out internationally.’ Jadimex, which is based in Lovenjoel (Korbeek-Lo, Belgium), is a specialist in wood, most of which is used for wall cladding. The firm is increasingly spreading out internationally, hence its forthcoming first appearance at the Carrefour Wood Show in Nantes. We spoke to Roderik Vandervennet, technical and commercial manager of the back office and responsible for marketing at Jadimex. During the interview, amongst other things, Roderik explains why wood (and its derivatives) is the most suitable material for wall cladding and why composite is actually not the best choice available. He starts by saying: ‘To make things clear, I should probably tell you something about what Jadimex is. We’re a family SME with eight workers. We started in 1996 literally with the sale of hardwood from the garage. Manager Danny Roelants sold this wood on the market because he noticed that there were no such vendors in Flemish Brabant. Gradually, the business grew and he set up a real timber trade. He tried lots of things, but it was invariably durable tropical hardwood which came to the fore. About two or three years ago, oak and thermally treated ash also joined the pack.’ Jadimex also has a link with Rumania. In the past, they made contact with someone in that country who wove hazelnuts. Roelants built up a factory there with new products. ‘Danny started production on a bigger scale, but about seven years ago, he noticed that there were more opportunities than working solely with hazelnut. And so, he bought a big saw machine for sawing tree trunks, including ash. With that ash he set up his own trademark under the name Jadiwood and business is good.’ Big demand for treated ash ‘What we’ve noticed is that there’s a particularly big demand for treated ash, which we dry and treat thermally in Belgium according to the highest standards. We still like to work with durable tropical hardwood, but we’ve found that there are two problems on the market. On the one hand, prices are rising all the time and, on the other hand, availability is a growing issue. And, let me say it before the critics intervene: Don’t forget that we work only with sustainable operators. Working with people who cut down trees completely is unthinkable for us.’ When the discussion proceeds from ash to wall cladding, Roderik refers to an essential element. For wall cladding you have to fit vertically, not horizontally. The conditions are completely different to those of a terrace, for instance. That’s one reason why composite isn’t such a good choice, plus the fact that treated wood is specifically more suitable. ‘Don’t forget that horizontally fitted wood needs to be very durable as it’s always under pressure. That’s not the case with a wall, which is “spared” to a greater degree. For wall cladding you don’t need such high durability, so the use of tropical hardwood is actually a case of “overkill”. You can also work with wood from classes two and three, such as oak and treated wood, and that camouflages the increasing insulation. I’d also like to mention that recently we’ve developed two blind fastening systems for exclusive sale in Belgium. The one system (Jadifix) has a small joint between the planks, whilst the other one (Jadeco) has no visible joint. This fits in with the circular construction narrative. If you move house, you can even simply take your wall with you.’ Composite swells in the length Obviously, we also want to know why thermally modified wood is a good choice for wall cladding and composite isn’t. ‘The main reason why we don’t use it is the way in which composite swells and shrinks. It swells along the length, and quite considerably as well. You can count on 1cm per metre of length, so that with a plank of 5m you get a difference of 5cm between the summer and winter condition. You can resolve that with wider profiles on the sides, but it certainly doesn’t look attractive.’
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