Specialty Metal, Cedar & Stone Cladding

Aluminum, Cedar and Stone Veneer Cladding Options

Metal, cedar and stone veneer are the claddings Calgary homeowners reach for when vinyl or fibre cement is not the look they want. They are three very different materials with different codes, failure points and upkeep, and this page sets out how to choose between them and how to combine them on one exterior.

A modern home combining natural cedar plank siding, black vertical metal panels and a grey stacked stone wall section.

How These Systems Differ

Metal cladding in this category comes two ways. Aluminum and Longboard siding are plank systems: Longboard makes aluminum façade systems with powder-coated finishes that replicate wood, stone and aged metals, and says its products are tested to CAN/ULC-S114 non-combustibility standards. Metal wall panels are wider steel or aluminum profiles, either ribbed with exposed fasteners or smooth with concealed fasteners along one edge. In Alberta, steel cladding must be at least 0.33 mm thick and conform to CSSBI 23M, and strip aluminum siding conforms to CAN/CGSB-93.2-M. The City of Calgary’s guide says aluminum can dent or scratch in hail without affecting the integrity of the home, and that steel stands up well to wind, rain, hail and winter storms. Wide flat metal panels can show oil canning, a cosmetic waviness that careful furring and fastening reduce but no one can promise to eliminate.

Cedar siding is the natural option, and it asks the most of its installer and owner. The Western Red Cedar Lumber Association calls for hot-dipped galvanized, aluminum or stainless steel nails, with stainless the best choice under transparent stain, and warns that copper nails react with cedar. Each piece is nailed on its own so it can move with moisture, all faces are coated before installation, and over rigid foam a furred air space lets moisture vent from the back of the boards. The building code requires 200 mm between untreated wood and finished ground. Cedar is combustible, and the City of Calgary notes natural wood is prone to damage from wildfire, high winds and hail.

Stone veneer here means adhered manufactured stone, which is a different thing in the code from a full masonry veneer with its own air space and weep holes. Adhered stone goes on over two layers of water-resistive barrier, lath and a scratch coat, installed to the stone manufacturer’s instructions and ASTM C1780, with a weep screed at the base held above grade and paving to the manufacturer’s clearances. The City of Calgary describes stone as fire resistant and unaffected by high winds, but susceptible to cracking through freeze-thaw cycles. The common stone repairs start at the base: no weep screed, stone buried in landscaping, or no kickout flashing above.

Metal, Cedar & Stone Services

A modern front entry with warm wood-look aluminum planks running vertically beside the door and continuing across the soffit above.

Longboard & Architectural Aluminum Siding

Wood-grain aluminum plank and panel siding: non-combustible and very low upkeep.

How it works

A modern detached garage with a white overhead door, clad in black vertical standing seam metal panels.

Corrugated & Standing Seam Metal Siding

Corrugated, ribbed and standing seam steel or aluminum panels for walls.

How it works

Close view of warm reddish-brown stained cedar bevel siding with visible natural grain and knots.

Western Red Cedar & Natural Wood Siding

Western red cedar lap, tongue-and-groove, shingles and board replacement.

How it works

A grey stacked stone veneer band along the base of a house wall, capped with a flat stone sill, below grey lap siding.

Manufactured Stone Veneer & Masonry Accents

Cultured and stacked stone wainscots, pillars and entries, detailed to drain.

How it works

Choosing Between Them

Aluminum or Longboard for a wood look in metal: Choose aluminum and Longboard siding when you want wood-grain soffit-to-grade accents, entries or full modern walls without wood upkeep. It is non-combustible, and damaged boards can typically be replaced individually on plank systems.
Metal wall panels for modern and utility walls: Choose metal wall panels for contemporary infills, garages and small commercial walls where a clean ribbed or flat profile is the point. Specify flat, true furring and narrower flats or stiffening ribs if oil canning would bother you.
Cedar when only real wood will do: Choose cedar siding for a new wood exterior or to repair split and weathered boards on an older cedar home so the wall reads as one again. Budget for proper fasteners, back-priming and a finish schedule, and avoid it on walls near a property line.
Stone veneer as a base or accent: Choose stone veneer for column bases, entries and wainscots rather than whole walls. Plan the landscaping with it, because stone buried in soil or mulch cannot drain.

Why It Matters in Calgary

Calgary’s older neighbourhoods show this category’s full range. Homes from the 1960s and 1970s in Varsity, Lake Bonavista and Canyon Meadows typically went up in aluminum, cedar or stucco, and many of Edgemont’s larger 1980s and 1990s houses have cedar shakes or cedar lap. Owners of those homes are often choosing between restoring the wood and replacing it with a wood-look metal. In inner-city Altadore and South Calgary, infills use metal panels, board and batten and stone to get a modern face, and stone wainscots and entry columns are common on 2000s and newer front elevations across the suburbs.

Tight infill lots make fire performance part of the choice. Where a wall sits close to the property line, the building code limits what cladding can go on it and may call for a fire-rated wall assembly. Non-combustible metal is the straightforward choice there, cedar usually is not, and we confirm the limiting distance before specifying the wall.

Metal, Cedar & Stone: Common Questions

Metal or fibre cement for a modern Calgary exterior?

Both are non-combustible and both resist hail far better than vinyl, so the decision is mostly about look and repair. Metal gives crisp, thin reveals, true metallic or wood-grain powder-coat finishes, and tends to dent rather than crack in severe hail. Fibre cement gives painted or ColorPlus finishes in lap, panel and shingle profiles and may crack rather than dent. Many modern Calgary exteriors use both: fibre cement board and batten on the main walls, with metal or Longboard on an entry or feature wall.

Can I mix stone, metal and siding on one wall?

Yes, and most accent designs do, but every change of material is a place water can get in. The building code calls for flashing at horizontal junctions between cladding elements and at changes of substrate, and adhered stone needs its own drainage at the base where it meets the siding above or below. We plan those transitions before ordering materials, so the stone wainscot, the metal accent and the main siding each shed water onto the material below rather than behind it.

Real cedar, or a wood-look alternative?

Real cedar has a grain, smell and weathering no substitute fully copies, and it is the right choice when matching an existing cedar home. It also needs correct fasteners, coatings on all faces and periodic refinishing, and it is combustible. Longboard-style aluminum gives a wood-grain look in a non-combustible metal, and within our other categories engineered wood and fibre cement give painted wood looks. If the goal is the appearance of wood rather than the material, one of those alternatives usually suits Calgary’s hail and freeze-thaw cycles better.

Other Siding & Exterior Services

Hardie Board

Vinyl & SmartSide

Envelope & Insulation

Soffit & Fascia

Repair & Hail Damage

Talk to Us About Metal, Cedar & Stone

Tell us about the house and what is going wrong with the walls. We will recommend the system that fits, including when a cheaper one will do.

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