The Best Exterior Wood Cladding Systems for Your Commercial Project

StoCast Wood offers a superior commercial building cladding solution over natural or engineered wood. Lightweight, resin cast, flexible, wood-grain StoCast Wood creates an authentic wood appearance that mimics nature’s textures while incorporating enhanced performance features.

In addition, sustainable and durable StoCast Wood offers a more cost-effective and less cost-volatile cladding product than natural wood. Furthermore, you can stain easy-to-apply StoCast Wood in a multitude of colors.

Natural Wood Cladding

For years, commercial building owners have used readily available, natural wood cladding for charming aesthetics. In addition, beautiful, natural wood siding develops a gorgeous gray sheen over time that creates a peaceful, calming ambiance. 

Wood also biodegrades, making it a good option when considering recyclability of the cladding for sustainable commercial buildings. In addition, it provides some level of sound dampening and thermal insulation. However, high maintenance costs, pest, fire and moisture issues, cracking, curling, cupping, and the rising and volatile cost of wood may detour many from choosing natural wood cladding. 

The Benefits of Real Wood Cladding

Several factors are often cited when assessing the benefits of real wood cladding, including: 

• Natural wood cladding comes in numerous styles, including shakes, straight edge, round edge, staggered, and patterned shingles.
• Wood stains easily because it lacks pitch and resin, which keeps surfaces from absorbing paint or stain.
• Renewable and biodegradable wood requires very little energy to produce, making it a sustainable building solution. In addition, trees naturally absorb CO₂ and release oxygen, making wood cladding essentially carbon-neutral. 
• Wood cladding acts as insulation, potentially lowering energy bills and protecting the structure’s interior from outside noise. 
• Wood cladding provides some health benefits, which can lead to reduced stress and increased productivity. 

The Disadvantages of Wood Cladding

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Extensive and Costly Maintenance

Wood siding requires a significant amount of expensive maintenance to ensure its aesthetic value and integrity. Maintenance includes cleaning, routine inspections, treatments, repair, and restaining. For example, professionals charge about $500 to repair 100 ft² of wood cladding.

Wood Cladding Dries Out

Over time, the sunlight dries out the wood cladding, causing it to curl and cup, which leads to moisture leaks and expensive repairs. 

Wood Cracks

Wood cladding naturally contracts and expands from temperature fluctuations and moisture exposure, leading to small cracks on the cladding’s surface.

Pest Control Issues

Pests, like rats and squirrels, can invade your commercial building through missing or broken wood cladding. Once inside the walls, these noisy pests will chew on electric wires (leading to fire hazards), wood (causing costly repairs), and eaves (leading to water damage). Pests also carry disease and odor. A termite invasion can damage wood cladding, and cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in maintenance and repairs. 

Moisture Problems with Wood Cladding

The vulnerability of wood to moisture can lead to costly repairs. If the wood’s moisture level rises above 20 percent, damaging fungi can form, 

which can weaken the wood and lead to unhealthy and structurally destructive mold. 

Fire Risk of Wood Cladding

The fire retardant used on most wood cladding will dissipate over time due to power pressure treatments, making the building susceptible to wind-driven sparks from nearby fires.

Lumber Shortages and Escalating Costs

Lumber shortages in recent years have caused lumber prices to spike to near all-time highs. Unfortunately, experts forecast lumber prices to continue to grow through 2022, further increasing construction costs.

Why Choose the StoCast Wood Cladding System?

StoCast Wood cladding mimics real wood but offers greater design flexibility with no compatibility or continuity issues. You can apply StoCast Wood as the finish layer to any Sto cladding system or directly to common construction surfaces like CMU or drywall. All under a single warranty, Sto fully engineered systems cover your wall from the sheathing out. StoCast Wood offers the beauty of natural wood cladding but with several significant advantages.

Sustainable StoCast Wood

Thin and lightweight StoCast wood tremendously lowers the energy needed to manufacture and transport the cladding, to conserve natural material resources. In addition, StoCast wood lessens structural loads and waste. You can safely handle StoCast wood because it lacks silica.

Authentic Wood Grain Appearance

StoCast Wood provides architects with a means to create the appearance of authentic wood cladding. We offer 45 different wood grain patterns and flexible planks to achieve a unique design. In addition, we provide 15 StoColor® Wood Stain colors, or you can apply Sto’s high-performance architectural coatings.

Easy to Apply StoCast Wood

Quick and straightforward to apply, with minimal specialized training, prefabricated StoCast shapes do not require fasteners, ideal for short construction timelines. In addition, you can simply cut the lightweight panels with just a utility knife. 

Furthermore, StoCast Wood effortlessly combines with other Sto finishes because it does not require elaborate sub-construction or complicated detail connections. 

Durable and Low-Maintenance StoCast Wood

StoCast Wood, coated with StoColor® Wood Stain, provides durability and UV-resistant coatings and finishes, minimizing maintenance and the need to recoat. In addition, freeze/thaw-resistant StoCast Wood will not warp, chip, or effloresce like natural wood.

Fire-Resistant StoCast Wood

StoCast Wood complies with NFPA 285 Acceptance Criteria for flame spread. 

Air, Water, Vapor, and Thermal Control Layers

Applying StoCast Wood with Sto’s fully engineered wall cladding systems creates a wood-like cladding with a high-quality liquid-applied continuous air and moisture barrier and continuous insulation like EPS, XPS, or mineral wool. In addition, you can use StoCast Wood with many of Sto’s EIFS, stucco, rainscreen, or cement board systems.

Sample StoCast Wood Case Studies

B-Line Condominiums in Toronto

Architects choose Sto Products (StoPanel® Classic NExT ci featuring StoCast Brick StoCast Wood, StoSignature® Stone, and StoColor® Acryl Plus) to construct this impressive B-Line condominium development in Toronto. StoPanel® Technology met the developer’s requirements for continuous insulation, complex design, multiple finishes, and a tight, constricted job site.

The Hyatt Centric Hotel in Atlanta

Exterior wood cladding gives commercial buildings a natural look that creates a rustic, cozy, modern, or upscale ambiance. However, high maintenance costs, pest, fire and moisture issues, cracking, curling, cupping, and the rising and volatile price of wood make StoCast Wood a superior wood cladding solution.

The Best Exterior Wood Cladding for Your Commercial Project – StoCast Wood

Exterior wood cladding gives commercial buildings a natural look that creates a rustic, cozy, modern, or upscale ambiance. However, high maintenance costs, pest, fire and moisture issues, cracking, curling, cupping, and the rising and volatile price of wood make StoCast Wood a superior wood cladding solution.

Lightweight, resin cast, easy-to-apply StoCast Wood produces an authentic wood appearance combined with improved performance features that lessen maintenance and improve the product’s integrity. In addition, sustainable and long-lasting StoCast Wood offers a less cost-volatile cladding product than natural wood. Furthermore, StoCast allows design flexibility and endless texture and color choice for your commercial project. 

For more on the best exterior wood cladding system for your commercial project, download this comprehensive case study today.