I say go for it... you can't really go wrong with too much timber... it will look great... just break it up in the landscaping with rocks and plants... god luck :)

Thanks Pazz,

Hmm, got me thinking now about utilising that sort of timber feature on a main wall somewhere as a highlight feature.
It appears to be some sort of teak cladding?

Only problem I can think of.. How often would you need to put a sealant/stain/maintenance on this to keep its fresh look? Tropical weather is pretty harsh.
Thanks you.

Great idea, I think you could clad the entire front wall/room to the left of the porch in timber... not sure about the maintenance side of things, hopefully an expert can help... though weathered timber can also look very nice, but it's a matter of taste...

Looking at this facade particularly, as it's shown, I would really consider where you apply the timber, and make sure it counts. I have commented on many similar facades, and they all benefit strongly from finding an identity of their own, and I feel the single most useful thing to do is to be clever with claddings. Play up your vertical and horizontal applications, detailing like shadow lines, express joints, expose or make feature of your fixing systems, and allow natural materials to be the hero.

If you are going with timber windows and doors, the garage and front entry, along with a deck, -that's already a substantial amount.

And I feel the opportunity to incorporate something unique to your build will be missed.

I love what this builder has done with the navy vertical board. This colour is a striking architectural colour, and I would perhaps use this also, and introduce steel powder coated beams on the portico to match, making a very bold statement. Look at your front in plan, the beams holding up the porch roof look like exaggerated picture frames, so highlight them! Make them dark, and chunky, so they frame the entry of glass. Perhaps install your solid matching painted door frame around your timber door- a cantilevered one would look amazing), right into a fully glazed wall. Floor to ceiling glass!

If this is your wow factor, and main expense, you can afford to pair back your other finishes, keeping them simple.

I would also line the underside of your porch with the timber matching your doors, and install downlights, it will not only be inviting, but will look amazing at night. The reverse skillion will have a huge impact on your overall frontage, and I think this alone will be enough timber. By all means, use it in landscaping, staggered or floating decks, letterboxes with cantilevered timber on steel beams, be creative and consider every detail an architectural one, meaning not just what material, but how you use it!

One thing yu can do out the box, is to discuss your eaves lining (also known as soffit), your fascia and guttering, or whether you use a barge board and box gutter instead, because the skillion roof is the main descriptor of these houses, pay close attention to the roofing and associated details.

Good luck.

following

You may like the look of our last home. It had a skillion roof and some features to make the streetscape appealing.

We spent up on the garage door, as it takes up the majority of the front of the house. We also had one wall inside the entrance way tiled with white stacker stones.

Ok everyone. I'm very grateful for everyone's advice. MLDesign, I'll look over your ideas and put some thought into it all. You've sparked a bit of interest in utilising timber and gave me more understanding of using different textures. I'll post back here today or tomorrow with a few more questions after I get the concepts and theme down pat. Thank you very much;-)))

Hi Rob, this is our house in Brisbane. It has a similar skillion style that you're looking at. The block work and each end of our house in boarding is pure white and the rest of the boarding is a very light pure grey (snow drift) the roof and gutters are Colorbond Surfmist. We're very happy with our colour scheme. We have no features at all in or out of the house except a green door which I think could have been even bolder, maybe burnt orange. Be careful mixing greys with browns, personally I don't like the dark blue-greys either.

Good luck!

http://www.houzz.com.au/projects/673307/rochedale

ML Design, thank you so much for the fantastic ideas. So, this is where we are at and thinking at the moment.

We really like the roofline and angles of this house and portico and love the vertical aspect of the cladding along the top. The things we are considering changing are;

1. We would go with a custom garage door the same colour (off White) as the main house colour/rendered block area. The garage door we where thinking of is the Denmar custom range (off White). It has the "express joint" look.
2. We would change main entry doors from glass sliding doors to a Timber door, and we really like the idea of framing this entry with the darker bulky beams of the portico as you said. We would also consider the fully glazed ceiling to floor wall.
3. The front louvres we would change to one big window similar to the one I'll upload after this post. All window frames would be a light grey colour.
4.The underside of the portico we would line also with the timber matching the front door, and install down lights just as you mentioned. We love this look.

A few more things we where considering is adding in a floating timber deck between the portico and main entry to break up the exposed aggregate.
We also thought about lining the soffit with the same timber as the portico underside and front door. But, not the whole soffit along the front. We where thinking of only lining the soffit along the front right side (entry side of garage) to where that roofline ends, just above the main entry, with down lights also. What's your thoughts on this, and leave the other soffit above the main entry and window area to the left of the entry as normal (white)?

We also thought about what Pazz mentioned and did like the look of cladding the front wall around the main window to the left and the other wall of that same room to where it meets the glass floor to ceiling entry wall. (Same colour timber as soffit, door and underside of portico). The only problem, I've seen houses where it's been done in the wrong places and it looks terrible. But if it's in the right place, it sets it off.

Would you recommend any particular colours that would look really good with any of this? We do like whites and greys/stone colour.

Sorry about the million questions and thank you so much for all of your details.

Below is the type of garage door we are looking at, but in the same colour as the white, not grey.
And the front door type. I'm not sure what type of door you had in mind?
And the third is the type of front window we are looking at, except it's grey frames.

Thanks again.

Mkyup1, nice house you've got there.
I like your garage door. What type is it ?
Cheers

Ajp74, thank you for the post and photos. We do really like the colours you've used. You can't go wrong with those colours as they are very neutral and cool, which suits the tropical weather QLD throws at us. Great house. Cheers

I'm really interested in this, thanks for the post and photos and all these comments. We also are in the early stages of designing a new house and researching materials (and I love the look of the aluminium roofing mentioned earlier), particularly timber cladding. I am no expert of any kind but have come across a few good-looking products that you might like to google: Woodform Architectural and Urbanline for timber cladding and Cutek as a timber protector. I've looked at Weathertex as a (pseudo) timber cladding material but personally I don't think it looks too good; you cannot substitute the beauty of real hardwood, especially when you'll be so close to it standing by the front door!! Maintenance has been a real point of debate for our project, opinions differ as to maintenance requirements but I reckon it's got to be at least every two years so you should consider how accessible (ie. Stepladder not scaffolding!) your timber will be to apply Cutek or similar. I guess the timber under the eaves will be somewhat protected from direct sun but if the front of your house faces west or North then you will be battling the elements to keep the timber looking its best (but my feeling is it might be worth it).
PS. I think charcoal grey looks stunning and classic with timber, maybe in moderation in QLD to be fair!

Rob, looks like you're on the right track, loving that garage door!... I think mldesign mentioned a pivot door earlier, which I also think would look great particularly in timber... maybe something along those lines...

Hi Rob ,

You are entering an exciting time with a new home, good luck with it all . Just a couple of suggestions :

(1) Any reason you are note considering an architect to be involved ? When chosen carefully they can be very cost effective , plus they will create the unique custom one off that you are after. Their design concepts will go far beyond just what the exterior looks like Rob, they will also consider ( for example) how a skillion roofline has other functional benefits like incorporating high line ( clerestory) windows that will bring fabulous light into the centre of your new home etc. They will also advise on orientation and wind etc etc and lots more .

(2) Regardless of whether an architect is involved, I would suggest that you seriously consider getting someone to create a 3D walkthrough of your new home so that you can walk through and around it before you spend your money on construction. It really does let you see the visual effects, plus because the 3D is to scale , it will help you sort out any potential issues with design and /or construction in advance( i.e. saves you time and money during construction ) . The 3D's can be created once you have your plans and elevations completed. You can get the 3D's created fairly cheaply ( a few hundred $'s ) on www.freelancer.com where professionals from around the globe compete for your project . It is money well spent , and you can see the colours and textures in lifelike scenarios , so it takes away the mystery and what if's .

Good luck with your project , and sorry, I don't like the dark blue at all :-) .

Cheers Glenn

Thanks Sarah, I'll look into the timber cladding companies further.

Thanks Pazz. Those doors look great. Particularly the last one.

That's a good idea using a 3D modelling. When it comes to Architects, what sort of costs would you be looking at as a general idea to give advice on design for a 4 brm home?

Cheers Rob

My hubby works for Woodform Architectural (mentioned above) - therefore we do have a lot of timber on our home, mainly spotted gum but also some ironbark. Maintenance wise, I find the cladding and eaves very easy to maintain, we use the Cutek oil with a UV stabilizer. Its the best product available. Cladding only needs to be oiled around every 2 years, but I wont put any more decking down as it really needs to be oiled twice per year (a real pain) unless undercover, and also shows up dust etc very easily. But the vertical cladding is not very high maintenance at all. Personal choice, but I love the look of a lot of timber :)

Woodform Architectural are one of the best products that I've seen. Great range and great to deal with.

I like that house too.

You live in Nth Qld so it's stinking hot in summer and you get cyclones.

Concrete is v popular these days. I saw a house once where the odd wall was left as unrendered besser blocks on the ground floor.

It had an over hanging top floor that was timber clad. It looked good.

The more concrete you have the better as far as temperature and wind are concerned

Libby

Thanks Libby.
Yeah our designs up here have to consider those nasties along with the Mosquitos too.

Thanks for everyone's input and ideas on this. We are getting closer to having plans finalised and have opted for an Architect to help. I'll upload something later once the plans are finished.

Thanks.