Plastic exterior cladding

Over the past 6 decades, the popularity of plastic material has increased in residential and non-residential construction. It is safe to say that plastic material has surpassed traditional construction material like bricks and wood. Especially when it comes to exterior wall cladding, such as façade panels and fascia boards. Plastic exterior cladding has so many advantages that it will most likely replace wooden exterior cladding altogether. Besides the advantages of the material, plastic exterior cladding also offers a wide range of possibilities. On this page we will explain the different sorts of plastic exterior cladding and their advantages.

Exterior cladding is there to protect the external structure of your house or building from all weather conditions. So cladding is very important for every house or building, also because cladding largely determines the exterior appearance of the building. Choosing a durable, strong and beautiful material is therefore crucial. Our plastic cladding is the ideal solution.

Below you will find our most frequently sold cladding panels. On these product pages you will find useful information and beautiful images for each product. This will help you choose the right panel. You can also order samples to determine the right colour.

Trespa® is made of High Pressure Laminate (HPL) material. The sheets have a very dense core with a rock hard synthetic resin surface, making them unpliable and exceptionally tough. Due to the molecular density of the top layer, dirt, algae and grime will hardly stick to the surface of the sheet. The same goes for paint and graffiti. This is one of the reasons why HPL is so useful as vandalism proof material.

Trespa® panel sheets consist of two core materials: craft paper and wood fibres. These materials are impregnated with synthetic resin and compressed into the desired form, this process creates the dense and compact core of the sheets. The next step is applying the top layers. These layers contain decorative coloured paper. This paper is impregnated with melamine resin and compressed under high pressure, resulting in a top layer that is about 0.8 mm thick. Both sides of the sheet are covered with these top layers. The sheet is again compressed under high pressure and at a high temperature until a single (laminated) sheet comes out.

When it comes to the characteristics of the material, such as strength, there is not much difference between the HPL sheets from different manufacturers. In our range you will find two versions of HPL sheets: our private label HPL and Trespa® HPL sheets. There is no difference between the quality. The main distinction lies in the price. The private HPL label sheets are more competitively priced and we stock a larger range of sheet thicknesses and colours. The white HPL sheets come in a sheet thickness ranging from 3 up to 20 millimetres, whereas the 14 coloured sheets are all 6 mm thick. When it comes to Trespa® sheets, you can choose from three colours in 6 or 8 mm thicknesses.

The properties of HPL material make it well suited for outdoor applications. During the production process, the material is pressed together at a high temperature and under high pressure. This result is a rock hard top layer that is virtually impenetrable to moisture and dirt. Additionally, this process makes the material impact resistant and vandalism proof. Cleaning HPL or Trespa® sheets is a piece of cake. Warm water with a drop of Kenotek cleaner and a soft brush work wonders for the yearly clean. The top layer is also UV resistant, preventing the sheet from discolouring due to exposure to sunlight. This makes it unnecessary to paint HPL sheets. And if the sheet is ever vandalised with graffiti, you can simply clean it off.

Below is a small selection of beautiful HPL cladding & Trespa® cladding examples

Using plastic cladding has many advantages. See below for a comparison between our HPL and the commonly used wood alternative.

In addition to these properties, plastic has many other advantages. Below are all the benefits of plastic cladding.

On our product pages you can easily and quickly order your custom made cladding in your desired shape and size. To order a standard shape, fill in your desired dimensions and simply complete your order.

If you want to order a special shape, you can upload your own DXF file. This is a technical drawing that allows us to cut your desired shapes exactly to size. In this video, we explain how to make a DXF drawing. Once you have your custom made cladding, all you have to do is attach it!

HPL panels have similar thermal insulation values to wood. However, the boards are only 6 mm thick and therefore have limited thermal insulation. We always recommend installing insulation behind HPL cladding. The insulating effect will therefore not come from the HPL panels but from the insulation material attached to the load-bearing wall.

HPL cladding has a fire class of D-s2,d0. This is a European standard equivalent to the B2 classification in Germany. HPL panels may smoke when burning, but no burning droplets will fall when these panels burn. As a result, a fire is therefore less likely to spread. The cladding does not melt, does not explode and has a relatively high ignition temperature. HPL has a European D classification and is therefore suitable for low-rise buildings. These are buildings where the highest floor is at a maximum height of 10 metres. Note that the roof may be higher according to these regulations.

To clean plastic cladding, we recommend using a mild detergent in combination with a soft cloth.

You can calculate the cost of a facade cladding using our product pages. Here, the price of each cladding panel is calculated automatically. Enter your desired dimensions and you will immediately see the price per panel. You can then calculate how much your cladding panels will cost!

HPL sheets have a reputation for being difficult to work with. However, with the right tools and proper preparations you can easily handle the material yourself. For installing HPL sheets you can choose to use a screw or adhesive connection.

Bostik Paneltack adhesive creates a strong bond and is easy to apply using a caulking gun. We recommend to pre-treat underlying surfaces and HPL sheets with a primer before making an adhesive bond. You can use Bostik Paneltack primer to prepare aluminium surfaces or Bostik SX black primer for wooden surfaces. In our assortment you will find special Trespa® screws that come in the exact same RAL colours as the HPL sheets, this results in an almost invisible screw connection. You will also find an HPL drill that has the perfect size for drilling the holes for the Trespa® screws.