There is no denying that timber finishes in both residential and commercial project settings offer a sense of warmth to the overall character of the building.
But like all natural finishes, the ongoing maintenance required to keep the colour fresh, along with the addition of wear and tear to the timber, needs to be considered by the end user of the property.
With the introduction of wood-look aluminium battens and claddings, you instantly have a new solution to recreate the beauty of timber, but without the ongoing maintenance hassle. Imagine a batten or cladding that won’t rot, rust or split and that also looks like real wood and offers up to 15 or 25 years’ warranty with some basic cleaning and up keep.
But are the wood-look finishes as good as the real thing?
Well, the first thing to understand is that there are a couple of wood-look aluminium battens or wood-look aluminium cladding options in the market that use different finish techniques and offer different performance, lead times and warranties.
One option is a veneer wood-look aluminium batten or cladding. Although the idea of a veneer may sound appealing as it does offer a real wood-finish, it is still subjected to the same issues as real timber on the finish, with ongoing staining and maintenance required, and much lower warranty options. These options are also manufactured overseas.
What about wood-look powdercoated aluminium battens and claddings?
The other remaining options are a powdercoat wood look aluminium batten and cladding. It was only a few years ago that the phrase ‘powdercoated wood-look aluminium’ would send shivers up an architect or designer’s spine, as the finish and performance were sub-standard and not overly realistic.
However, like most things, technology improvements over the years have made a dramatic difference to the wood-look powdercoat industry, and Alteria is excited to offer two beautiful and realistic premium powdercoat wood-look options that also offer excellent performance and warranty solutions.
Evoke Range – Wood-look aluminium battens and claddings
The Evoke range is a wood-look powdercoat finish that offers maximum realism and plenty of variety in wood-look colour options. With up to 15 years’ warranty available on the finish, it also offers excellent performance in both internal and external applications.
The Evoke range uses a sublimation process, which in simple terms is an advanced manufacturing process that transfers a realistic wood look ink design onto the powdercoated aluminium using heat. This process essentially binds the image ink and base material together as one, which gives it an extremely durable and hardwearing finish.
Available in over 20 Standard Colours (plus custom wood-look colours on request), our Evoke range offers a cost effective, low maintenance solution for both residential and commercial projects.
Meridian Range – Wood-effect aluminium battens and claddings
The second premium wood-look finish offered by Alteria is our beautiful Meridian range, which offers not only a realistic timber look, but also a realistic timber effect finish. This range uses a highly sophisticated ‘powder on powder’ manufacturing process that offers the best exterior wood-look performance in the market with a 25-year warranty.
Available in 12 standard colours, our Meridian range offers maximum durability and performance, particularly in high corrosivity climate areas and is an excellent solution when you need the wood-look solution without the maintenance hassles.
For more information about any of our wood-look colours for our aluminium batten and cladding range, or to make a Signature Statement with Alteria for your next project, please visit our website.
