Batten Strip Siding

Board and batten siding is made up of two different pieces.

Batten strip siding.

Wide planks are installed first running vertically up the sides of the home. With a helper expect to spend a day installing 800 square feet of siding. Traditionally board and batten siding starts with wide vertical planks boards which are then joined together by thin vertical strips battens to cover the seams. Furring strips work well with horizontally installed siding and therefore not well with board and batten siding.

Barns and houses with board and batten siding were inspired by nordic european buildings and gained popularity in america sometime around the middle of the 19th century. Batten trim or batten molding is a thin strip of trim typically with a rectangular cross section similar to lath used in lattice used to cover seams between panels of exterior siding or interior paneling. Rather than running horizontally over the building board and batten siding runs vertically. And unlike horizontal lap siding which has each board overlapping the next slight board and batten consists of two sizes of board.

Before you begin cover the sheathing with building wrap and install trim boards and flashings. If your sheathing is not solid you will need to first attach horizontal furring strips. The gaps or joins between the planks are covered by a thin strip known as a batten which is how the style gets its name.