Finishes
A coating brushed onto a finished wall covers five faces of every board and misses the sixth. Ours goes on in the mill, before a single board is fixed — all the way round, indoors, in conditions we control.
Why we do it
Three things change when the coating goes on in a mill instead of up a ladder.
Boards go through coated all the way round — front, both edges, and the back that ends up against the batten. It is the one face nobody ever inspects and the one that spends its life in a damp cavity. Coating it is straightforward on a line and effectively impossible once the board is on a wall.
Coatings have conditions — temperature, humidity, a surface free of dust and rain. Indoors those are settings. On a Scottish elevation in November they are the weather, and the weather decides how the film cures.
Where a coating is specified, factory application before installation performs best — that is Timber Development UK's guidance and Accoya's, not our sales line. The same guidance asks for at least one coat on all faces, end grain included, before the board goes up.
Sources: Timber Development UK and Accoya specification guidance, checked 2026‑07‑30. Full citations are held with the answers they support.
The four
A translucent stain, an opaque paint, a silicate that greys the timber deliberately, and a charred face that is not a coating at all. Pick on how you want it to age, not on the colour it starts at — that is the choice you live with.
Known to us as Sikkens 771
A translucent stain that keeps the grain visible and warm. Known to us as Sikkens 771 — factory applied, so every board arrives finished and ready to fix.
Known to us as Remmers
A flat, opaque colour with full protection — any RAL colour. Known to us as Remmers, applied in the factory for an even coat on every face.
A silicate treatment that weathers the timber to an even silvered grey-white over 8–12 weeks — the weathered look without the years of waiting, and even weathering after it.
The charred face. Deep, textured black that is UV-stable and remarkably low maintenance — charred in-house, ready in two weeks like everything else.
Colour
Solid Colour is a Remmers system. We hold two colours in stock; everything else is matched to the RAL standard and mixed to order.
A custom colour is bought by the tin rather than by the square metre, and whatever is left over ships with the cladding so there is a matching pot on site for cuts and knocks. At 0.26 litres per m² — the Remmers figure for two factory coats — a 10 litre tin covers around 38 m² and a 20 litre tin around 76 m².
Pick the exact colour on any species page: the Solid Paint swatch opens a RAL picker that carries the code through to the calculator and onto the quote.
Choosing between them
The real question is whether the timber keeps its colour or silvers — that is what separates the finishes. Intervals are realistic for UK cladding, checked against each manufacturer's own guidance; south- and west-facing walls sit at the short end.
Fades gradually — never flakes or peels. A recoat goes straight over, no sanding.
CareRecoat every 3–5 years on exposed faces; sheltered walls stretch to 5–7
Holds its colour longest of the four. Chalks slowly rather than flaking.
CareA maintenance coat around years 8–12; dark south-facing colours sooner
Golden at first, silvering within months, mature silver-grey by year two — evenly, all the way round the building.
CareA top-up coat between years 3 and 7; a full re-treat around year 15
The carbon layer is the UV protection. Stays black for decades; the odd char flake is cosmetic.
CareNone the timber needs — re-oil only if you want it jet black forever
The oil, not the char, carries the colour — left alone it weathers like any stained board.
CareRe-oil every 3–10 years to hold the colour; optional if silvering suits
"Holds its colour" scores how long the original colour lasts — SIOO:X sits lowest by design, because silvering is the point, and its silver endpoint is itself stable for 10–15 years. Checked against the Sikkens Cetol WF 771 and Remmers Induline technical datasheets and the SiOO:X care manual, 2026‑07‑29. Guidance, not a guarantee: timber weathers to its own site.
After it arrives
A board cut on site has a raw end, and end grain is where water gets in. That cut has to be sealed before the board goes up.
A free tub, in your colour, for sealing cut ends and tidying any damage. That includes coated charred boards. You do not need to buy a separate end-grain sealer for a coated Tiny Temple order — it is in the delivery.
For Natural Stain (Sikkens Cetol WF 771), AkzoNobel specifies Kodrin WV 456 end-grain sealant, with damaged areas repaired using a primer coat of WF 771 followed by WV 456. For Solid Colour, Remmers specifies Induline SW‑910 on cutting edges and end grain. Useful to know; our touch-up tub is what a Tiny Temple order actually needs.
Manufacturer products named above are from AkzoNobel and Remmers technical literature. The touch-up tub is Tiny Temple's own, confirmed by the team 2026‑07‑31.
Samples are free and posted on request — name the species and the finishes you want, brushed and charred included. Or price a coated spec straight away.
Tiny Tony AI assistant
Instant answers 24/7 · humans reply Mon–Fri, 9–5