Installation Times - Hardwood vs Vulcan Softwood

Abodo’s Vulcan timber or hardwood timbers - which is faster to install and why? We talk to builders and architects who have worked with both.

Our Vulcan timber cladding and battens come in long lengths (up to 6m) as standard, stay super straight, and weigh half that of a hardwood board. Based on these factors we knew our Vulcan would be faster to install.

We spoke to several builders from around Australia who have recently used Vulcan timber cladding and battens.

Hamish Gray from Gray Construction, is a builder of luxury homes on the Sunshine Coast and has used the Vulcan Cladding on multiple projects.

Hamish says: "A big part for us is that the boards are straight and not twisted like hardwoods saving us a lot of time in inspecting each
piece.

Vulcan is also very lightweight making it easy to handle, and a great option for garage doors. I’d honestly say that Vulcan Cladding is very easily 30% faster to install than a hardwood."

Based in Melbourne, Mike Sharp from In and Sharp is an architect, joiner and a builder; who used our Vulcan timber battens as the main feature facade at a multi residential development in Ferntree Gully.

Mike told us: "The timber battens were straight and easy to manipulate over long lengths. We had no issues with the Vulcan timber battens warping or twisting; and fixing the battens with the Spax screws worked a treat.

Prefinishing the product and not having to deal with the usual hardwood characteristics, meant for a quicker install and a more consistent coated facade. I'd say by using Vulcan timber battens - the installation was 20-30% faster than using a traditional hardwood."

Matt Sidoti of Sydney based SQ Projects was the Construction Manager for a 70’s restoration in Balmain commissioned by architects Fox Johnston.

He said: "All boards were tongue and groove and nail fixed over timber framing. The Vulcan timber cladding proved to be much quicker to install than hardwood.

All material arrived straight and true, and without any splitting and splintering that you can expect with hardwood equivalents. We would not hesitate to use and recommend Abodo Vulcan for future projects."

Installation Times Hardwood vs Vulcan Softwood Abodo Wood 2

Vulcan is created from thermally modified plantation pine and then engineered with a unique and patented vertical grain for superior performance.

A fine sawn face allows a depth of grain, and optimal coating performance.

This combination of the thermal modification process and the vertical grain lamination means Vulcan has superior stability, no resin leaching, is a beautiful brown colour, and naturally durable.

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