Unlike plywood siding, for board-and-batten siding you need to apply sheathing and building paper first. The board-and-batten siding is not structural like T1-11 so you need something to put under it to provide support. You can reference one of my other articles entitled “How To Apply Sheathing” to complete that step. Board-and-batten siding is often used with pressure treated wood as it offers good protection from the elements, if you plan to paint the siding then you have more options as to what you can use, the paint will do the protecting.
The first thing you need to do is mark a baseline and position the first board at the corner of the building. Use a level to make sure the board is plumb and fasten the board in place with 4d (1-1/2 inch) nails. You need to nail at 12 inch intervals along both edges of the board. To create the appropriate spacing cut a 1/2 inch plywood spacer and butt the next board in place against it and nail the second boar to the sheathing. Repeat this method to install the remaining boards, except those around windows and at the gable ends of the building. When you do come to a window, hold the board in place and mark the outline of the window on the board with a pencil. Cut the board on the marked outline with a saber saw. Bevel the edge so that it will slip under the windowsill, which is normally angled downward. Once you have the piece cut nail the bard in place with 4d nails every 12 inches on the edges of the board.
At the gable end of the building, measure the angel of the roof with a T-bevel and mark the top of the boards accordingly. to make fitting easier, cut the boards at the angle with a circular saw first and then cut them to length at the bottom. This will create less chance of mistakes and an easier fix if you do make a mistake.
Cut 1×2 battens to fit over the gaps between the siding boards. Drive 6d (2 inch) nails through the center of the battens into the gaps. Trim the corners with a 1×2 batten on one side and a 1×3 batten on the adjacent side. Nail both pieces to the siding with 4d nails and nail through the 1×3 into the 1×2. This will connect the two battens together. Fill the gaps along windows, doors and corners with caulking, and you are done. This type of siding is a good looking one but it does take some time to do, and some patience.
I will let you in on a little secret about board-and-batten siding if you don’t want to go through the trouble of installing it the old fashioned way. You can simply put up plywood siding and then add the 1×2 at 12 inch on center and create your own board-and-batten look. The benefit of this is that you can apply plywood siding that doesn’t require sheathing underneath it. This will save you a lot of time and money. Once you apply the 1×2 strips over the siding at 12 inch spacing, no-one will ever know that you didn’t use the real board-and-batten method. This is a much easier way to accomplish the same look and you can do it in about half the time and with about half the cost.
