Board and Batten protection / installation questions
I have been building a workshop for the past 4 years (plus a couple years of site prep). 4500 sq ft … 16 ft ceilings … standing seam metal roof … I have put every nail in myself.
Before it rots away, I need to get siding on it. The outside is about 6000 sq ft.
I looked at vinyl … about $2 sq ft … pain because I would need to start at one end … go across with a few rows … then move to the end again … plus I would put PVC trim on corners and such.
I looked at LP and other types of manufactured siding … $$$$$$
Looked at metal board and batten .. $3 sq ft … maybe I could do this.
Then I looked at Board and Batten (or ship lap board … same price). About $1.50 sq ft … looks like reasonable to put up.
Now, if I go with board and batten, I have a few questions:
1) The lumber mill said the most important thing is air moving behind the wood. So Furring strips? If so do I need a lattice of them to leave a gap or ? Do they need to be pressure treat or ???
2) Do I need to protect the wood? I know some people say just leave it. I am worried about it rotting. Maybe a dip tank so all sides get coated? Treat with what?
3) How to butt pieces? Some say to end them all at one point and put a Z flashing .. some say just butt them … I was thinking a 45 on the ends so water does not run back behind the boards.
4) How do you buck out the windows? if you put Tyvek on the building and wrap it into the windows, what do you do to get the windows out 2 1/2 ” (3/4 back furring … 3/4 cross furring … 1″ boards)?
5) Board and batten or ship lap … board and batten holds water behind the battens but ship lap holds water at the overlaps.
6) anything else I should be thinking about?
Thanks …. Mike
Replies
1) I helped a friend install vertical shiplap on his 30x50' building. We used Coravent corrugated vent strips as furring. Worked great https://www.roofingdirect.com/shop/cor-a-vent-sturdi-batten-drainable-rainscreen-batten-strip/
2) Depends on the wood. Lots and lots of old uncoated Eastern White Pine and Hemlock siding on barns around here in Vermont.
3) I've seen both. Often the "end all at the same place with z flashing" has a horizontal piece of trim over the z flashing. On the gable end it can match the elevation of the eaves soffits, on the eaves end I've only seen all the boards go top to bottom, so, not sure. Our old barn has 45 degree butts. I haven't since any water get past.
4) No opinion
5) Again, depends. On my 24x24' gable roof shed I used B&B to match my other outbuildings. And shrinkage of the boards (in my case they were fresh sawn) was hidden by the battens. Ship lap looks better in my opinion, but it's trickier because the 3/8" to 1/2" lap might not be enough to seal out water, especially if the wood isn't dry enough. In my friend's case he bought kiln dried shiplap boards. On the south side the sun shrank the boards enough that there are a few spots where water can get behind (he used Zip behind, so not the end of the world).
One more point, depending on what wood you choose, if it's not kiln dried certain woods' like pine, dry very fast in warm weather. The old "an inch per year" doesn't apply to all wood. I have a very accurate moisture meter and some of my pine boards, sawn in the Spring, were at EMC by late July.
Awesome! I like the idea of the corrugated vent strips ... might be easier than the screen or foam (like the roof vents).
I am sure the wood will be fairly green ... he only has 1000 sq ft on hand but says he will have lots through the summer.
I will probably go with the butt joints .... it will be hard to keep a straight line all along a building that size.
Thanks so very much !!!!!!!!!
And don’t forget to let us all know what you decide and how it goes. Good luck!
I definitely will. Working on that small shed style roof on the front of the shop ... should have been done by now but we had such a wet start to the year, I am behind. Got window quotes coming in .. then start siding!
Thanks!
Nice work, Mike, that’s a serious build. For board and batten, furring strips make sense for airflow, and pressure-treated is a safer bet. I’d definitely treat the wood—oil-based stain or preservative should help it last. Cutting ends at 45° sounds good to keep water out. For windows, just build them out with ripped lumber to match your siding depth and flash it well. Between board and batten or shiplap, both have pros and cons just make sure there’s airflow and good drainage behind either one.
It is a large building. I really should have make it smaller but since this is my "last" shop, I wanted it to be big enough for any project I could think up.
I like the look of shiplap but am just a bit worried it will shrink and have openings between the boards.
Thanks so much !!!!!!!!!!!!
I like the Coravent strips but have never opened up a board and batten remodeling job and had the horizontal (plain pine) furring strips be rotten. There is a ton of air moving through B and B on furring strips.
How long has the OSB been exposed? You should cover with some type of paper or house wrap if you can't tackle the siding this summer IMO (2025).
Gutters and snow slide guards in the plans? You will have a splash back on the eave walls to almost the bottom of the windows. The bottom 12-16" of siding will deteriorate much faster than above it. If no gutters, maybe consider a wainscoting of steel with the B and B above it.
It's a looong story but some of that osb is going on three years ... ouch! I thought it would have rotted away but it is actually in decent shape ... just a few spots I need to look at but most is solid.
I am planning to cover the entire building in Tyvek this summer and with luck all the board and batten up.
I am not going to put gutters and yes there is a LOT of back splash ... this was the first winter with a roof and I found that out quickly.
First, I am sealing the bottom 18" with truck bed liner (a could inches onto the cement right up the OSB). Not cheap but it will seal the bottom edge. That is another long story ... I wanted 12" of concrete but was told by several builders and the guy who put poured the slab to build on slab ... mistake!
I will put at least two pieces of material horizontal on the bottom edge. This will take the hit from a lawn mower or weed eater ... and will rot ... but if I screw it on, I can easily replace it.
Crossing my fingers it all comes together. This one man building is for the birds! I did try to hire people. The first guy could not put up anything straight if if life depended on it. The second guy showed up drunk ... did drugs at lunch and either passed out or just took off for a few days!
In the end, it was just less frustrating to build it myself. I have done it all from putting up the trusses to pulling up the roofing panels.
On top of this, I work and I take care of my wife who was paralyzed from the shoulders down as the result of a diving accident when she was 12.
Anyway ... just got in. Working on the small shed roof in the front. Then windows and siding.
Windows! $5K for cheap vinyl ... $21K for Marvin Essential (the old Infinity line).
Thanks for the advice !!!!!!!!!!!
Mike
If it were me, I'd go with ship-lap as it simplifies the trim around door & window openings. Yes the boards will shrink across their width as the wood loses moisture leaving a gap. Just keep the boards' width relatively narrow and the lap greater than the expected shrinkage. A 12" wide white pine board can easily shrink from 12" to 11-1/4" - using a 6" wide board cuts the shrinkage in half, so plan on a 1/2" rabbit.
I like the CoraVent furring - it provide a full height path for any water to make it all the way down.
That makes sense. I was thinking wider just to do less pieces but I understand your thinking on the shrinkage.
Thanks !
I wouldn’t do shiplap unless it was kiln dried. As I mentioned above, even kiln dried boards will shrink, especially in the south side. The caveat to not using green shiplap is, unless you use something like https://475.supply/blogs/product-intros/fronta-quattro-the-allblack-airtight-wrb-for-modern-openjoint-rainscreens?_pos=2&_sid=69794ed0c&_ss=r
The mill has examples of both shiplap and board and batten on buildings they have done on site.
I have done either so I am i the the dark.
I think shiplap may be less work but I think the board and batten may be more forgiving. I would only need to keep the battens straight. Any uneven gap (not sayin1/2" but say you were 1/8" off) would be covered by the batten.
I am a stupidly exact person ... NEVER let a machinist build a building. My roof in 60 ft is off less than 1/16" ... but it took me two years to do.
I am hoping siding will go fast ... I really want to get this done this year!
Thanks so much .... Mike
I always put the level on every 2-3 boards for plumb. I would drive a screw through the center of the batten so it went through a bit, maybe a 1/4-1/2”. That point would find the slight gap between the already plumb boards for perfect centering, spacing, and plumb.
Great method! I would think it would be fairly fast.
Thanks!