Modern Wood Facade (Winnipeg) - Opinions?
 

Hi Everyone,

Nearly 3 years ago, we bought a 50 year old house in East Kildonan. The past 36 months have been non-stop renovations. We tend to like a more modern look.

Sample of inside "look":

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/954/inside1w.jpg

The problem is the facade still looks old and tired.

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1967/housefacade.jpg

To modernize the exterior, we have received a few different ideas on horizontal wood cladding. The idea would be to create a veil and that stretches the house horizontally

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/8...thwalkway3.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/574...thwalkway4.jpg

We really like these designs but are concerned about the aging of the wood. Sure, it might look good for the first few years, but how will it look in 10 years?? The cost on this project is signifacant, so longevity is a must!

Here are my questions: What is the best species of wood to use for a "modern" exterior cladding? The horizontal lines need to remain perfect, so the wood can't bend, warp or split. What does well in our climate? What ages nicely? What is "lower" maintenance?

I really like the Penner renovation on Wellington Cres where a Pedra wood was used to modernize an old bungalow (or might even be split level).

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/43/pennerreno.jpg

Thanks in advance for all your help!

that faced is not old and tired it needs some tlc and could be made to look realy nice if one worked with it but if u want to change it ok..

as for what u have for a design cedar is the wood u want.. it turns grey over time but that takes a long time
but u can take that grey colour off with a pressure washer and u can also get a seal for it but cedar ages better when it can breath and if u have this thing of urs built right u could just change out the boards down the road with ease

heres a home that was done 20-25yrs ago
http://www.google.ca/maps?ie=UTF8&ll...29.02,,0,13.69

Thanks ... perhaps I shouldn't have said the exterior facade is "old and tired" when in reality, it is completely fine. A more accurate representation of our thoughts is that the facade isn't modern enough and we would prefer the exterior better "match" the interior ...

Although I can appreciate the look of weathered cedar ... I am not sure it's what we are looking for in this application.

Your interior looks like a shot taken out of a modern day magazine. No offense meant, just that it looks, well, sharp. :tup:

I see what you mean about wanting the exterior to "match" the interior, but that example you have doesn't work for me. The angles the pictures offer feel too "closed", while the interior feels "open".

Unfortunately, I can only offer my opinion as I am lacking in potential examples/options for you. :)

love the wood fronts popping-up everywhere! there's a pretty intense modern wood facade that just popped-up on pinedale ave. in norwood flats.. check 'er out! you cant miss it. all floor-to-ceiling windows on the second floor and wood fronting the rest.. just pops out of the rest of the 1950/1960's neighbourhood.

riverview has a few prominent exaxmples of this facade appearing on in-fill projects near churchill high as well..

Personally I like the vertical lines of your exterior, a change in colour might be all that you need. Nice location, I ride by it all the time, also happen to be friends with the previous owners grandsons.;)

I like the look you are going for, cedar definitely isn't the wood you want, while it is great on a deck it doesn't shout "Modern". I don't know if i am going to get beat down here but the only thing i can think of are the new composite wood materials out there - perfectly straight, no maintenance, but very expensive. I would think any wood you chose would require quite a bit of maintenance to keep it looking the way you want it to.

By the looks of your house, am i guessing right to say you are around Rossmere Golf Course?

Thanks for all the replies ... I understand that composite wood will look good for a long time, but I think we really want something natural.

Biff- we're not near Rossmere ... we're on the west side of Henderson ...

Natural wood will require a great deal of maintenance to look good over the long term. But nothing beats the look and quality of real wood versus the knock offs.

I agree with Biff that cedar doesn't scream modern, and the grain of the wood won't likely give you the smooth lines you are after.

What about teak? I am not sure how this kind of wood likes winter, but it has moisture repellent characteristics and is much smoother than cedar.

What ever you choose it's gonna be $$$! And you will curse it every couple years as you re-stain.

I replaced all of the cedar shakes on the second floor exterior walls of my 100 year old house a couple years back. I considered sealing them to retain the natural colour, but in the end I decided to pick an exterior colour for the trim and siding below that would match the wood as it aged and turned grey.

luv it.....ive admired that wellington reno since it went up...didnt know it was a david penner....very clever.

nice job on the interior reno.

western red cedar has a really rich colour but you have to treat it or it will grey....it has a nice tight grain....

click on the photo gallery

http://www.wrcla.org/whycedar/archit.../overview.asp#

no such thing as low maintenance wood...prepare to re-seal it every 4-5 years.

Room needs punch of color. The TV wall could be painted a nice burnt orange, or a hot shade of green (my fav color) with a couple of throw pillows....I would also have some sort of doors made for the electronic components (I hate seeing that stuff); something industrial, that would allow the remote(s) to still work...

http://www.windowblindstips.com/wp-c...ent-modern.jpg

http://www.raftertales.com/wp-conten...ors-modern.jpg