Metal Cladding vs Wood and Fiber Cement: Why Aluminum Wins
Walk any older street after a wet winter and the evidence is on the walls. Wood siding that has cupped, split, and gone grey at the bottom courses. Fiber cement with a hairline crack running off a fastener and a chalky film where the paint is giving up. Vinyl that has rippled on the sun-facing […]
Wood-Look Aluminum Ceiling at Blank Street, Los Angeles
Clicklad project spotlight, Los Angeles, California A cafe ceiling has a big job. It has to make the space feel welcoming while holding its own through everyday commercial use: heat from the kitchen, moisture, cleaning, and years of foot traffic underneath. At this Blank Street branch in Los Angeles, Clicklad supplied the walnut-look aluminum ceiling […]
Exterior Cladding Materials: Types, Costs, and How to Choose in 2026
Stand in front of any new building in Los Angeles right now and the wall tells you when it was designed. The stucco boxes went up before the fires. The rebuilds framed after the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires, which destroyed more than 16,000 structures between them, are going back up in fiber cement, […]
Aluminum Cladding Colors and Finishes: A Design Guide for 2026
Walk through any new architectural project in Los Angeles County and the facade conversation now starts with finish before it starts with material. Matte charcoal on a Venice ADU. Champagne anodized on a Beverly Hills office remodel. Sublimated walnut on a Manhattan Beach craftsman rebuild. Soft sage powder coat on a Pasadena duplex. All four […]
Class A Fire Rated Aluminum Cladding: An Architect’s Guide
Specifying exterior cladding for a fire hazard zone used to be a paperwork exercise. Pull the manufacturer’s brochure, check that “Class A” appeared somewhere, attach it to the submittal, move on. The 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires changed that. AHJs, insurance carriers, and code consultants now want to see the underlying test data and the […]
WUI Chapter 7A Aluminum Cladding for California Buildings
After the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures in January 2025, plan reviewers across Los Angeles County started flagging the same sheet of California Building Code at almost every counter visit: Chapter 7A, Materials and Construction Methods for Exterior Wildfire Exposure. WUI Chapter 7A cladding is no longer a niche concern for […]
How Long Does Aluminum Cladding Last? A Lifespan Guide for 2026
Aluminum cladding installed on a Pasadena home in 1978 is, in many cases, still on that home in 2026. The color has shifted a half-shade. A few panels carry a dent from a long-forgotten baseball. But the wall is intact, watertight, and structurally sound almost five decades after the contractor walked off the site. That […]
Aluminum Cladding Maintenance: A Complete Care Guide for 2026
The pitch for aluminum cladding usually ends at “low maintenance,” which is true compared to wood, vinyl, or stucco. It’s not the same as “no maintenance.” A factory powder-coat finish on 6063-T5/T6 aluminum will outlast the building’s first roof, but only if the wall gets a wash now and then, the flashings stay clear, and […]
How to Install Aluminum Cladding: A Step-by-Step Guide for 2026
Walk a job site in Gardena, Pasadena, or any Eaton-fire rebuild neighborhood right now and you’ll see the same pattern. Pallets of aluminum panels under a tarp. A wall stripped to the sheathing. A two-person crew running rails across the studs. By Friday, that wall is finished, watertight, and ready for inspection. Aluminum cladding has […]