Published: 15/06/26 By: Mike Bekin
When you have decided on timber cladding, it is tempting to find your wood and get started straight away. But, as a pretty significant investment of your time and money, we highly recommend slowing down for just a moment and doing your research. One area where we see a lot of client uncertainty is cladding profiles. These are integral to the final look and function of your timber cladding, and it is essential you know what profile you want before diving in.
What Are Timber Cladding Profiles?
Timber cladding profiles refer to the different ways your timber boards can fit together. During production, the boards will be milled to create specific shapes on the edges of the timber, ensuring you can fit the boards side-by-side. There are multiple options of cladding profiles, and you will need to choose the right one for your building before making an order.
How Do Cladding Profiles Affect Your Project?
Cladding profiles directly affect the overall aesthetic of your exterior walls. Each profile fits together to create a slightly different look, be it the smooth and flush finish of contemporary cladding or the overlapping edges of more rustic designs.
They also affect performance, influencing drainage, ventilation, movement tolerance and overall weathering performance. The shape and overlap of each board, for instance, influences how rainwater is directed away from the timber, reducing the risk of moisture seeping behind the cladding and affecting your interior structure.
Profile choice can affect installation time and maintenance requirements. Some systems are easier to install than others, making it smart to assess your options before making a final decision.
Different Types of Timber Cladding Profiles
To make a more informed choice about timber cladding profiles, you need to know what they are. Here is a run-down of the most common and popular profiles, along with some extra information to guide your next steps:
Shiplap Cladding Profile
Shiplap is characterised by a bevelled edge which overlaps neatly with the adjoining board. This semi-interlocking design creates a layered effect slightly more rustic than a fully flush profile. The slope of the board helps direct water away from the cladding, making it a practical choice for exterior walls, while the overlap helps shed water effectively and improves weather resistance when correctly detailed.
In terms of installation, it is one of the easiest profile choices, making it excellent for DIY projects and quick constructions.
Tongue and Groove Cladding Profile
Tongue and groove cladding is defined by its neatly engineered interlocking system. Each board features a protruding “tongue” on one edge and a corresponding “groove” on the other, allowing the boards to slot tightly together like pieces of a puzzle. This creates a smooth, seamless finish ideal for contemporary aesthetics.
Tongue and groove can create a neat, relatively closed-joint finish with minimal visible gaps, but for external use it must be correctly profiled and specified to allow for timber movement. This connection helps reduce draughts and improve weather resistance when properly installed for a sturdy, durable finish.
Featheredge Cladding Profile
Rustic and charming, featheredge is a favourite for sheds, cabins and heritage homes. Each cladding board is thicker on one side and thinner on the other, creating an elongated triangular shape. The thicker end overlaps the thinner for that iconic layered look of traditional cladding. When installed correctly, it acts as a sturdy barrier against the rain, though it is generally less closed-jointed than interlocking or overlapping profiles such as tongue and groove or shiplap.
Without the puzzle-piece fit of other cladding profiles, featheredge can also be a little trickier to install. It requires precise measurements and accurate fitting, especially when overlapping the boards.
Shadow Gap Cladding Profile
Shadow gap cladding is well-known for its modern aesthetic. This design creates a deliberate recess between each board, adding depth and visual interest to your walls. The boards are generally fixed with hidden fixings or butt-jointed, rather than interlocking, so the gap is intentional rather than part of a tight-fit system.
Many homeowners and architects favour shadow gap for its high-end feel. It has become a staple of contemporary architecture and is frequently used vertically to create a striking, clean look which elongates exterior walls.
Rhombus Cladding Profile
With non-interlocking angled edges, rhombus cladding is a little different from other profiles. Rhombus cladding is commonly used in open-jointed rainscreen designs, which tells you a lot about the practical purpose of this design. Each board is installed with a small gap between the next, creating a similar aesthetic to shadow gap cladding, and is designed to aid water runoff.
While not as weatherproof as interlocking boards, the rhombus cladding profile creates an effective rainscreen when installed correctly. The small gaps are ideal for ventilation, preventing moisture from building up beneath your timber boards.
Final Thoughts
Armed with more knowledge of cladding profiles and our species library, you are now much better prepared to choose the right timber cladding for your project. Here is where we come in. At EcoChoice, we supply FSC and PEFC-certified timber cladding to projects around the UK, in all the profiles we have listed in this guide.
Get in touch with us today to start your timber cladding order.
Tags: timber cladding
Categories: Insights
