Larch and cedar are perennially popular with DIYers, self builders, architects and commercial specifiers.

As both are outstanding outdoor performers and larch is only marginally cheaper, your choice will likely come down to appearance.

Siberian larch has a straw yellow-golden brown colour and characterful grain pattern, with Western red cedar famed for its alluring mix of browns, reds and pinks and knot-free appearance.

Let’s dive a little deeper.

Species intro

Larch can refer to a range of species, the most common in the context of exterior cladding being Siberian larch (Larix sibirica), also known as Russian larch.

Whilst classified as a softwood, it is relatively dense due to its slow-growing nature in an extremely cold climate. It is also a very resinous species, making it useful for outdoor applications.

Cedar can also refer to many species, with the most popular for external cladding purposes being western red cedar (Thuja plicata).

An evergreen conifer native to the Pacific Northwest, trees grow up to 70 metres and have similarly strong natural decay resistance and dimensional stability.

Interestingly, western red cedar is not a true cedar – it belongs to the Thuja rather than the Cedrus genus and was originally misnamed due to its similarly aromatic wood.

Appearance

Siberian larch has a straw yellow to golden brown colour. The wood’s slow-growing nature contributes to its tight growth rings and pronounced grain pattern, giving it a characterful look.

Siberian larch is typically sorted into two grades, ‘unsorted’ and ‘sawfalling’. We call these Grade A (unsorted I-III) and Grade B (sawfalling I-V):

Unsorted (grade A) can allow for very occasional knots (up to no more than 10p in size)
Sawfalling (grade B) allows for more frequent knots, up to the size of a 50p piece.

Sawfalling examples typically command a lower cost, but can add a little more character.

Siberian larch

Wood-clad single-story extension with large glass doors attached to a brick house, under a clear blue sky with a bare yard and concrete slabs nearby. — Siberian larch vertical shadow gap cladding, uncoated

Wood-clad backyard extension with black-framed glass doors, a small outdoor light, potted plants, gravel beds, and a stone path beside a green lawn.

Considered to be among the attractiveness elite, western red cedar displays eye-catching reddish-brown colour variation, from dark chocolate to light pink and salmon, sometimes with a darker red streak.

The wood is typically clear grade, containing very few knots. Grain patterns vary from close and straight to open and wild.

Western red cedar

Wood-clad poolside cabana with glass walls, string lights, and outdoor seating among potted plants beside a blue-tiled pool. — Western red cedar vertical shadow gap cladding

Modern wooden home with expansive glass sliding doors, a gray wooden deck, and an outdoor dining area; sunlit garden and trees in the background.

Modern wooden garden room with vertical timber cladding, black-framed glass doors and windows, a flat dark roof, and a small concrete patio on a green lawn.

Like all woods, over time the moisture and UV will cause larch and cedar to turn grey – a purely superficial phenomenon called photodegradation. It does not imply any structural issues.

The greying can be dramatically slowed down and the original colour retained with a well-chosen woodcare finish. A product like Owatrol Textrol HES can retain the wood’s colour and help the grain pattern to ‘pop’.

If you enjoy the nature-inspired greyscale look, then there’s no requirement to treat your wood.

Modern wooden house with slate roof and skylights, glass doors, and a gray cushioned outdoor dining set on a wooden deck with plants and blue sky. — Siberian larch, silvered off beautifully

Outdoor durability, stability and density

Cedar and larch both have natural substances (extractives) and cellular structures that provide resistance to the effects of moisture and wood-decaying fungi.

This means both species resist changes in humidity well, minimising the risk of warping, cracking and splitting.

Whilst not typically a consideration for external cladding projects, larch is notably denser and more scratch resistant than cedar.

It scores 4,900 N on the Janka hardness test compared to cedar’s 1,560 N – impressive for a softwood, and even denser than some hardwoods like black walnut and cherry.

Wood-clad garden pavilion with a slanted roof, open doors, and two black wicker chairs inside, set among lush shrubs and a stone path. — Garden room in horizontal V-groove western red cedar cladding

Workability, maintenance and treatment

Both species are fairly lightweight, take fixings and finishes well and have good machining properties.

Use stainless steel fixings when installing your cedar or larch to avoid leaching. Drilling rather than nailing will also help prevent splitting.

Neither species requires any treatment before outdoor use due to their natural durability and stability. That said, there are a couple of options worth considering depending on the finish you’re after.

For the grey look: a transparent, colourless stain (like Owatrol H4) will protect the species from moisture-related damage. For a new project, Owatrol Seasonite is another option to protect the wood during its first winter and allow it to start greying gracefully.
To retain the wood’s original colour: a semi-transparent stain (like Owatrol Textrol HES) will guard against moisture-related movement while preventing greying.

Read more:

Two-story modern home with white walls and warm horizontal wooden cladding on the façade; large sliding glass doors, multiple windows, and a gravel yard. — Western red cedar horizontal V-groove cladding finished with a UV protectant oil

Costs and prices

Siberian larch cladding is typically around 15% cheaper than western red cedar.

In our versatile DTC3 V-groove cladding profile, Siberian larch comes in at £63 per m², excluding VAT. The equivalent in western red cedar is £73 per m² excluding VAT.

To clad an average-sized garden room with 10% wastage allowance, approximately 25m² of cladding is required. In larch, this comes to £1,575, and in cedar £1,825. Both prices exclude VAT.

So, if you’re on a tighter budget, Siberian larch is more cost effective. Opting for sawfalling (B grade) can bring the price down further.

Prices are correct at the time of writing, May 2026. Note that the Russia-Ukraine war has made availability of Siberian larch more erratic (and therefore pricing more volatile) – contact us for the latest.

If budget remains a constraint, take a look at some of the excellent species we’ve pulled out in these two articles:

Outdoor patio with a wooden wall, string lights, and a black wicker hanging chair with cushions. Bar with stools and bottles, lush plants. — Western red cedar vertical shadow gap cladding

Ready to start your project?

We stock western red cedar and Siberian larch cladding, all sustainably sourced and machined by us to your specification, with UK-wide delivery.

We also offer a number of other stunning, high-performance cladding species, including Alaskan yellow cedar (which closely resembles western red cedar once treated), Thermo-ayous, Thermo-pine, Thermo-tulipwood and Accoya®.

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