# Board and batten siding help?



## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Hi there,

I'm thinking about siding a shed with board and batten (batton?) siding. I've never done it before, I was wondering if any of you had tips/references on how to do it right. In particular, what kind/size of wood would you use for strapping? Nailing patterns? Strapping & board spacing? I think I'm going to go with 1"x10" rough sawn pine, and 1"x2" rough sawn battons....


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## tdublyou (Jan 8, 2010)

Rob,
A couple of things to keep in mind. 
1) Be sure you have horizontal blocking or strapping to nail the siding to.

2) The board and batten together are at least 1-1/2" thick, so you need to pay attention to anyplace they butt up to window and door trim, especially below it. You can run a 1x surround around the window and doors on top of the siding and then butt the battens into that. At the very least you should bevel the top of the battens that extend past the sill on windows so that they are less likely to wick water.


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Thanks for this. What would you suggest to use for strapping? 1"x3" SPF?


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

You need to space the boards to allow for expansion/contraction with weather changes. How much depends on how dry the wood is to begin with, what type of wood it is, what type of finish will be on it, etc, but about 1/2" seems about right to me if it's dry pine. When you install the battens, nail them to only one board, so the other board is free to move behind the batten when it changes size. 

Pine is not a very good choice for outdoor siding, as it's life will only be about 20 years or so at best. You should consider a wood that holds up better outdoors like cedar, fir, white oak, cypress, etc. which would hold up many times as long.

Charley


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## tdublyou (Jan 8, 2010)

bobbotron said:


> Thanks for this. What would you suggest to use for strapping? 1"x3" SPF?


For strapping 1 x 3 or even 1 x 2 should work fine. Cost wise it's probably very little difference so I would use the 1 x 3.


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Thanks guys. I think pine will be ok - my parents have pine B&B on their house, it's been on there 35 years, and is doing ok. That's good enough for me (and I already got it delivered.) 

Do you think I can get away without using out some kind of sheathing wrap (ie tyvek)? Since windows are already installed, I'm not sure if I can wrap it effectively. My carpenter friend seems to think it will be ok.


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## RJM (Apr 11, 2010)

I thought that the batten nails go thru the gap betwen the boards to allow the boards to expand and contract from the center (where they're nailed to the furring strips).

Also, make sure the furring strips are attached securely to structure (not sheeting). They will be holding up a lot of weight.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

You might get away with putting the batten nails through the batten and then between the boards, but it will be very difficult to position the nails so they don't go into either board. Nailing the batten to only one board lets both boards expand and contract with the batten just sliding over the top of the other board. It you were to get nails through the batten into both boards they would not be able to move without splitting one or both boards or the batten. All of the old barns with board and batten construction are built this way. Go find one and look at it up close to see where the nails are located.

Charley


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Thanks for the tips guys. I did nail the strapping into the studs (when I could find them.)  Here's where I'm at so far, got the drip line up, and a few boards before the rain hit.


Board and batten by bobbotron1, on Flickr


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