James Hardie Board and Batten Siding
We’re on week 34 of our new build and frankly, I thought we’d be nearing the finish line by now. It’s time for the inside trim to begin. And, it’s time for the James Hardie Board and Batten Siding to go up on the exterior of the house.
I knew way before we even began the building process that the exterior of the house would be clad with Hardie Board.
The drywall was completed last week and it’s beginning to look like a real house on the inside.
Update On Our Modern Farmhouse
My sister warned me that once they started on the trim, things would slow down. I didn’t think it could get any slower on this new build, but evidently, it can.
Building during the pandemic is completely different from building any other time. Prices have gone up (supply and demand), building materials are on backorder, and there’s a shortage of workers.
I’ve heard many of the subs say that they can’t get any help. That causes them to get behind and today, there is not a soul working at my house.
The trim guy will be doing the millwork, stairs, baseboard, crown, etc. and he’s in the middle of a job and can’t start until next week.
The exterior siding guy that met with the general contractor, my husband, and me last Friday to give a quote? Well, he decided he’s way too busy and that our house is too big and it would take a month to do it.
We’re helping our general contractor search for someone that can do the siding. Do I get a cut of the contractor’s fee?
James Hardie Board and Batten Siding
Our foundation is brick and we decided to do James Hardie Board and Batten Siding. I was originally going with the Hardie Board vertical lap siding. Then, my husband talked me into going with board and batten. And I’m really glad.
Remember, he only asked for four things in the entire house. I’m down with that.
What is Hardie Board and Batten Siding?
Wide cement fiberboard is used as a primary siding and decorative batten strips are added to give it that board and batten look.
We’re going to have batten strips spaced 16 inches apart. I think if we space them any closer (12 inches) it will look too busy.
We’re doing the entire house with board and batten. I know mixing up the exteriors using brick, stone, vertical and horizontal siding is all the rage, but that’s just not me.
Make sure you come back and visit soon to see all the updates on our new house build!
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Hi Alli,
I’m building a modern farmhouse. I see that you have a very tall home and the board and batten doesn’t look like it has any seams. How was that accomplished?
My house is tall as well and we’re trying to figure out how to install it without seeing horizontal seams since each piece is only 10 ft in length.
Thanks.
Trina
When I wrote that post our house didn’t have the siding on yet so the bottom photo is a stock photo showing board and batten. Our siding does have a seam but it’s covered with a 1×4. You can see the siding before it was painted and see how they covered the seam here: https://mymodernwhitefarmhouse.com/white-exterior-house-paint/
You can see it painted here:https://mymodernwhitefarmhouse.com/home-for-christmas/
Hi, I’m trying to decide on the width of batten boards to use. You mentioned using Hardi Batten strips, but also 1×4’s. I can only find Hardi’s that are narrower 3/4 x 2 1/2(guessing 1×3’s) Do you like the look of a wider board vs Hardi’s narrower? Seems like a silly question of an inch difference, but would love your opinion.
We spaced the battens 16 inches apart and the batten boards are 2-1/2 inches wide (I sent my husband outside to measure). We were going with James Hardie Board and Batten, but there was a shortage (of course!) and we had to go with a different brand of fiber-cement siding. So we went with the Nichiha brand. It’s the same as Hardie board, just a different brand. Here is a link to a photo of my house once the siding was done and painted:https://mymodernwhitefarmhouse.com/white-exterior-house-paint/
Hi! I’m wondering what you did for the board and batten? My home is also taller than the 10 foot runs, did you end up with seams?
We did end up with seams but they are covered by battens.