Wooden façades have become increasingly popular in recent years. One of the reasons for their popularity is that they are suitable for both modern and traditional designs. However, the use of wooden elements is quite complicated and expensive. A convenient and effective alternative are wood-imitating decorative tiles.
Wooden facades are most frequently found on detached houses, but wooden elements are also placed on modern office buildings. In any case, however, when deciding on this type of finish, you must keep in mind that a wooden facade is not only about planks, but also about the appropriate supporting structure and elements such as wood screws, fastening systems, varnishes, and impregnating agents (very important if you want the wood to look good for a long time). A facade of this type is labour-intensive and requires expertise. What is more, wood care means not only impregnating or painting, but also masking cavities, cracks, removing moss and lichens, replacing damaged panels, as well as removing discolorations that appear over time.
A convenient and economical alternative are nature- and wood-inspired decorative tiles, which can be installed without special equipment and advanced knowledge. However, in order to achieve a good result, it is necessary to choose the right products and follow the tile installation rules.
Wooden tiles for the facade – what to pay attention to
When choosing tiles for outdoor use, it is important that they are resistant to adverse weather conditions, including frost, snow, sunlight, or prolonged rain, but also mould and fungi. It is important that they not only stay solidly fixed to the wall during the whole time, but also that their appearance does not change. Therefore, the right solution are concrete tiles. When decorating a façade, you often have to cover a large area of a wall. Therefore, it is worth remembering that the tiles are of different sizes and the choice you make will translate into convenience and speed of installation.
Wooden façade tiles to help achieve a natural effect
In order to make wood-inspired tiles look stylish and as natural as possible, it is important that the details reflect the texture and the heterogeneous colours of wood. The technology used by Incana allows to arrive at a very natural effect.
One of Incana’s product lines, inspired by the texture and colour of wood, is the Landwood range. This concrete tile imitates wood in a natural and stylish way, with its characteristic layered grain arrangement and knots.
Tiles from the Landwood range are long and narrow (measuring 54.5 cm x 10.4 cm and 2 cm in thickness), so their installation is not too complicated and you can do handle it yourself. Basic tools (e.g. a toothed trowel, a level, a wire brush) as well as primer and an adhesive will suffice (read the detailed instructions for installing the tiles – HERE)
The Landwood tiles allow you to create a façade in a darker or lighter tone, as they are available in two colours:
– Cappuccino (soft beige),
– Volcano (dark volcanic rock).
Another solution for those who love wood is the Eastwood range, characterized by a warm, light brown colour, enriched with subtle darker discolorations. The structure of the tile is distinguished by elements imitating raw wood and the surface, sometimes covered with an aged, cracked layer of paint.
The Eastwood tiles are 37.5 cm x 10 cm and are made of concrete. They are from the SLIM range and have a thickness of 1.5 cm. Consequently, they are lighter and can be used in places in which the traditional concrete tiles would be too heavy
Different arrangements of a facade covered with wood look tiles
Wood is a very nice and popular inspiration, which is why wood-imitating products are suitable for many applications. A wood-like façade can be installed over an entire wall or only on selected parts of a building, such as plinths, extensions, the garage, the front door, or the terrace. Such tiles can also be used to decorate the fence.
The tiles can reduce the heat loss in a building and may make your house look lower than it really is. To this effect, dark elements should be installed in the attic, while the bottom should be finished with tiles in a lighter colour (a clear horizontal layout may additionally visually widen the building). On the other hand, if you use a vertical arrangement of elements on the façade, the building may seem a little higher.