Sustainable 'wooden' cladding for barn 3.0

With the look of real wood, without its drawbacks

An old barn in the Brummelhuis family's yard is currently getting the update of its life. The result will soon be a barn 3.0, if the owner is to be believed. In any case, he is delighted with the new Millboard cladding, as is the processor, for that matter, who is usually rather skeptical about the use of "wood-look" materials. In contrast, the Millboard Envello collection is indistinguishable from real wood and is just as easy to process. Or perhaps even slightly better...

The destination of the updated barn is still uncertain. "We could use the barn as a B&B or rent it out as a vacation rental, but we can see ourselves living in it in time," begins Laurents Brummelhuis. The renovation was done rather rigorously. "Only the four walls were retained. A new roof has been installed and the walls have been provided with a thick layer of insulation and finished with Tholin's beautiful planks. The latter, by the way, was a quest. We were looking for a maintenance-free cladding, but one with the appearance of real wood. We found Millboard boards on the Internet. After seeing the planks at Tholin Building Products in 'real life', we were immediately excited."

Quick installation

Millboard is a sustainable alternative to wood cladding. The Envello cladding in Smoked Oak looks very much like oak and also has nice properties for the processor. "I myself am not a fan of synthetic materials," Alwin Kuiphuis of the carpentry company of the same name blurts out. "But Millboard is really an exception in that respect. The material is fantastically workable and quick to assemble." In this case, the Envello boards are mounted vertically on a wooden battens. "Thanks to the tongue and groove connection, the boards are screwed concealed. By the way, a nice detail is that the top layer of the plank has a self-healing capability. Should it so happen that the spring of plank cannot be used, we use special screws that disappear into the plank. The top layer then pulls itself closed. Furthermore, we have hardly any waste, because all leftover pieces are simply used. However, the boards are cut at an angle of 20 degrees so that water is always drained to the outside."

The Envello collection is unique because of the natural authenticity of the planks. The planks are colored and post-processed by hand. This creates a natural color nuance between the different planks. "It is indistinguishable from real wood. Consequently, we have a lot of calls from interested parties who are amazed at the high quality of the product," Brummelhuis says. "We looked at a lot of other products, but there is no alternative that even comes close to Millboard. And the most important thing for us is that it is a low-maintenance and therefore future-proof product. It's not cheap, but if the material does what it promises, it's worth it."