Doing Board & Batten...

Welcome to the Forum. True Board and Batten is done directly on the stud frame with no sheathing underneath. Its quick and fast but not always completely weather tight. Plywood underneath with building paper or Tyvek would make a stronger tighter house but also considerably more expensive.

 

Welcome new poster, some of us have been here about 6 yers now, new faces are seen here often.

There is a archive section with construction as the theme, may be something there. What kind of walls are you covering? If its masonary you need pressure treated furring strips mounted horizonally for vertical B & B. Wood walls need horizonal strips also, so youwill have something to nail to. Remember that there is also reverse B & B, with the narrow boards in the back ground, its a matter of personnal chiose. If the wood is to be stained, do that before installing; later in time the wood will shrink and expose unfinished surface if you stain after installing.

 

You can also put celotex (black board) under the B n B. Cheaper than plywood and will block the wind as well and give you more stability. You will still need the horizontal nailers to attatch the B n B to. Here is a site that tells you more how tos.

http://www.soundcedar.com/lumber/siding/board and batten/installation.php

 

I noticed Cracker Barrel uses 4x8 sheets of rough siding and just ands the strips to look like b&b I think it would be cheaper, stronger and weathertight. The only problem is the horizontal joints if it is more than 8' tall but CB's is not that noticeble(sp) unless you are looking for it.

 

We're doing the tyvek and plywood. It looks pretty good. It is very sound, too.
lacyj

 

Here's what the plywood board and batten looks like:
Still needs another coat of solid stain...



This is done with exterior grade plywood and battens attached to evenly space.

 

When I was a much youger man and working construction in the mountains of Kentucky and the Virginia's we called houses built in board and batten "boxed" houses.

A floor (platform) was built, corners were erected, stringers were nailed every two feet or so to the corners or spaced out unrights, tar paper was nailed over the stringers, and then boards were nailed to the stringers. Later, after the boards had seasoned a bit battens were added to cover the cracks.

Most of the lumber of rough cut of hardwood and an inch or better in thickness so studs weren't needed. Inside the house boards were nailed in the same manner as outside but wall papered rather then battened.

The only real problem with the old method was that the houses would "rack" because almost no one braced the corners.

If a person has their own lumber or can buy it worth the money, you can't build a stronger nor cheaper structure.

 

It's one of the cheapest ways to go, if you have your own timber.

You use typical stick-frame construction, making sure you nail blocking (short pieces of 2x) between the studs, with at least two horizontal pieces between every two studs. It gives you something to nail your 1x to.

A couple of pieces of advice:

1. Go to the extra trouble, and expense, of planeing the outside surface of your board and batten before installation. That way, it'll take half the paint that rough-sawn would take.

2. When framing up on your eves, decide if you want a flush surface, or if you want a smidgen of overhang, since your boards are usually 8 foot or so, and you are going to have runs a bit longer than that.


An alternative would be to find a bandsaw mill that cuts shiplap siding. Different look, but takes a bit longer to install. Cost is about the same, though...

 

I used board & batten siding for the gable ends on my garage & house. http://community.webshots.com/user/hoop_john

Traditional stick framing 16" on center, with nailing blocks inserted as required between the framing. Covered the framing with 30# felt prior to installing the board/battens.

IMHO, this has to be one of the best uses ever for rough cut lumber.

 

Our carriage house is B&B, 4 years old. First suggestion, screw it, don't try to nail it. The boards have warped some and pulled away from each other (we nailed). The boards also tend to shrink over time, so be sure you have something under it like the plywood or blackboard or you will have a booger of a time keeping it air tight. We have several out buildings that were built by different people. There is a huge difference in craftsmanship. If you get a good job, it makes a beautiful building, and with rough cut lumber it is a lot more sturdy than store bought stuff. A tornado came through last spring and put 3 big trees in the middle of the carriage house roof. The repairmen said we would have lost the whole building if it were not rough cut (poplar). Makes for a fast construction time. Good luck!

 

if you use rough cut then spray a solid coat stain over it it will give you a weathered look that is stricking, here in maine and the mountians we did a black board on the fram, then b n b it was air tight mush cheaper then plywood. sue

 

Use screws if you like, but 40 or 50 years back one of the farm journals did a study on building with green lumber and found that the boards will rot away before a galvanized ring-shank nail will pull.

Nails are a wee bit faster and cheaper than screws and all you need is a hammer.

 

I have heard you should at least have the corners of your home secured with plywood for structural integrity. An insulation board with firring strips and tyvec should seal your home well... good luck..klh

 

Plywood is nice, but you can brace with a diagonal 1x running from the corners like so: \ (except you need to be more on a 45, and end at the right place). You just cut into your 2x studs on the outside enough that the brace goes in flush.

Another note on B&B...make sure your battens are wide enough. It serves a couple of purposes: 1)it makes it more weatherproof, and 2) it lets you cheat a bit better. The problem with roughsawn stuff, is that it isn't always dimensionally identical, so sometimes you have to work it as you go. I like a 3 1/2" batten, but to each, his own.

 

And one more thing....

I mentioned it before, but plane the outside face of the board, and the batten. The cost of doing so will pay for itself in paint costs on the first job. Planed lumber does not take near the paint, or stain, to seal it.

As for exterior coating, I've used stain, paint, and if you really want to get by cheap - crude oil (assuming you've got any wells around).

 

I am getting ready to side a 10x12 chicken house with rough sawn 5 inch wide, 1 inch thick oak. It's been air drying in a shed all summer. I would like to use a board and batten style. If I spaced the boards 3 inches apart and used the 5 inch wide boards as strips, what would be the proper way to screw them down? I know the boards will expand and contract some depending on the weather, so should the batten strips be fastened to the main boards or just to the cross stringers in the 3 inch gaps in the wall?

 

Best to nail the boards and battons to the stringers and not to each other. If the battons are nailed to the boards, both can split as they season and shrink.