Everything Kansas City Homeowners Need to Know About Board & Batten Siding

Up-to-the-minute board and batten siding style provides the versatility to achieve an ultra-personalized trendy aesthetic to your home exterior. As you’ve likely seen, this relaxing rustic-chic style can be creatively implemented to bring out the best in your Kansas City home’s looks, and give your home the edge when it comes time to sell it. This is especially true when using a quality siding brand like James Hardie siding for your board and batten style.

What is Board and Batten Siding?

This hot trend that has today’s homeowners thrilled actually started roughly 200 years ago as an efficient alternative to the log cabin. Back then, board and batten siding covered both barns and houses throughout America. A sawmill gave homeowners the chance to cut boards in order to side their home or barn. But nailing the boards to a home exterior left gaps where water and chilly air could penetrate, so battens were developed to cover exposed seams and safeguard homes from the elements.

Homesteaders and farmers started with wide vertical planks (boards) and joined them together by thin vertical strips (battens) to cover seams and seal the structure. It was a practical and affordable way to create energy efficiency. 

Vintage board and batten siding has made a strong comeback in popularity. Today’s board and batten style is achieved through vertical panels with decorative batten strips between them to create visual interest. 

Read on to discover the simplest way to achieve this attractive look for your home exterior. 

The Board and Batten Siding Style: Rustic-Chic

Both modern and traditional looks can be accomplished with board and batten style siding. And you can mix things up by playing with the batten spacing, covering your entire home with this look, or using it to accent gables or other interesting features of your home exterior. 

It’s easy to achieve a simple modern aesthetic with board and batten siding 

Use wider spacing to get an elegant, sleek, modern look that speaks of simplicity and calm. Extremely tight batten spacing in a deep color can also create a contemporary texture for your home exterior. 

Create visual appeal for your home 

If you use the board and batten style for portions of your home exterior, and popular HardiePlank® Lap siding in conjunction with it, you’ll get a textured, cohesive look that creates visual interest you’ll enjoy for years to come. 

You’d be surprised at how many architectural styles the board and batten design works on!

Board and batten siding can be applied to homes from Contemporary and Modern to Rustic, Traditional, and even Victorian. It can be used both vertically and horizontally to achieve an attractive visual design. You’re sure to “wow” your family and friends with this chic siding’s look. 

Your home should reflect your uniqueness

Board and batten siding’s dimensional features make it more interesting visually than other siding styles. Each of us is unique, and our homes should reflect our individuality and radiate a genuine, personal warmth to our guests. 

Your property’s exterior is the first thing people see when they approach your home. It should be a clear reflection of you! Board and batten siding gives you every opportunity to express yourself and extend an embrace to your friends and loved ones from the minute they round the bend and see your home. 

Board and batten siding is super easy to repair

Unlike other siding styles, the use of individual pieces in board and batten siding makes it super convenient if it ever needs repairs. Only the affected panel will need to be removed rather than several panels, saving you time and money if fixes are required. 

You can create this look with a variety of siding materials

Board and batten siding can be achieved with wood, vinyl, engineered wood, or fiber cement siding. Our favorite is James Hardie fiber cement due to its host of benefits. 

How to Achieve the Look of Board and Batten Style 

Although board and batten style originally was done in wood (which unfortunately welcomes termites, is prone to moisture damage, and requires a lot of upkeep), today’s siding materials give you the option to get the look of wood without its high maintenance. Enter James Hardie siding with a woodgrain finish. This durable siding product mimics the look of wood, giving you the perfect style for your home, and yet is nearly maintenance-free! 

Get popular Farmhouse design and bring an impressive modern flair to your home. Simply use HardiePanel® vertical siding as the base material, and HardieTrim® boardsHardieTrim® boards to create the decorative batten strips. Your curb appeal will soar as a result, boosting your home value when it comes time to sell. 

Benefits of Hardie Board and Batten Siding

Low maintenance James Hardie siding delivers exceptional beauty, enduring protection from the weather elements, and a stout 30-year non-prorated, transferable warranty. With customizable styles to choose from, and a host of designer-picked color combinations, Hardie Board makes it easy to achieve the vision you have for your home. 

Transform Your Home with Gorgeous New James Hardie Siding

You deserve to live in a home that looks fabulous and doesn’t require a lot of maintenance. At Safe Harbor Exteriors, we specialize in installing James Hardie siding, which looks amazing and resists hail, snow, UV rays, fire, and pests.

As a James Hardie Elite Preferred Contractor, we follow their strict guidelines on the installation process so you get the high performance siding you deserve and your warranty will be honored. 

Discover more about the advantages of James Hardie siding and the difference it can make in your home.