Traditional colours for cladding are western red cedar's reddish-brown tones, or Siberian larch's versatile golden straw yellow.

Jet-black or ultra-dark brown? Less so.

Yet this cladding colour is trending amongst design-led self-builders, DIYers and architects. But why?

Standing out from the crowd

Black cladding is not a traditional cladding colour in any way. Particularly in jet black, it’s not something that occurs naturally. This makes it a bold statement choice.

Charred cladding in particular creates a shock factor bound to catch the eye.

It has design origins from 18th century Japan through a technique for preserving the wood called Yakisugi, translating literally as ‘burned cedar’.

The modern version of Yakisugi involves taking a cladding board, structuring the grain with a wire brush to create texture, then applying a black wood stain.

It creates an arresting and eye-catching structure, but with a more robust hard-wearing finish than traditional Yakisugi.

Thermo Ayous Black Cladding 1 — Chartex® timber cladding by Duffield Timber, an alternative to traditional charred cladding

Modern house exterior with dark vertical siding, large glass doors and windows, a light brick base, white side wall, and a glass-railed balcony.

Two dark wood-clad houses with red-tiled roofs, a paved driveway, an open carport on the left, brick bases, and a wooden back fence.

Modern dark wood-clad building with tall vertical panels, two large glass doors, and a flat gray deck, set beside evergreen trees under a blue sky. — Charred-look vertical cladding.

Dark vertical wooden wall with a long narrow horizontal window; a green lawn and trees on the left, with a wooden fence in the background.

Modern two-story home with dark vertical siding, a wooden central panel, and large glass windows. Left: garage with a car and solar panels; front garden and path.

Providing contrast

Black doesn’t doesn’t have to dominate. It can be adopted sparingly to add a nice flourish and contrast with other cladding or building materials.

Modern house with a black slanted roof, timber columns, and glass walls; covered patio with wicker seating, potted plants, and a green lawn.

Olive green front door with a slim vertical glass panel on the right, flanked by white walls with two black exterior lights and a wood-clad facade.

Row of modern semi-detached homes with white lower walls and wood-clad upper facades, gray roofs with solar panels; fenced front gardens.

Modern wooden garden studio with a dark frame and glass doors, surrounded by potted plants on a sunny lawn.

Bold Nordic-inspired, agricultural looks

When used extensively on larger outbuildings, particularly in a featheredge profile, black cladding evokes a rural feel.

The colour has also been historically popular on agricultural Nordic buildings. Kirkjubøargarður in the Faroe Islands dates back to the 11th century and is one of the oldest still-inhabited houses in the world.

Go vertical for a more contemporary feel, or horizontal for a traditional look.

Dark blue wooden cottage with red-framed windows sits on a stone foundation, its grassy sod roof on a green hillside, with rocky mountains and a cloudy sky behind.

Dark wooden houses with sod roofs and red-framed windows along a stone wall, warm lights glow inside as green hills and rocky cliffs rise behind, with a path and a picnic table in the foreground. — Distinctly Nordic: Kirkjubøargarður, a historic farm and museum in Kirkjubour, Faroe Islands.

Modern dark wooden building with a long sloped roof and several skylights; ground level features tall glass doors and narrow windows under a clear blue sky.

Outdoor performance

The best way to produce black cladding is with a factory finish during the product’s manufacture. This professional treatment shields the wood from its biggest exterior threats: moisture and wood-decaying pests.

The result is a naturally durable, dimensionally stable product that will remain looking its best and performing impeccably until first maintenance.