Ferndale Siding Board and batten has been showing up on more homes around Ferndale lately, and it's easy to see why. The vertical lines read as clean and modern on a new build, but the same profile also suits a farmhouse remodel or a cabin-style place out toward Lake Terrell. What most homeowners don't realize is that "board and batten" isn't one product — it's a pattern, and the material underneath that pattern matters a lot more than the look on day one.
What Board and Batten Actually Is
The classic version is wide vertical boards with narrow strips (battens) covering the seams between them. It started as a practical barn-building technique — the battens kept wind and rain out of the joints — before it became a design choice for houses. Today it's used as an accent (a gable end, a porch surround, a single feature wall) or as the primary siding across an entire elevation.
With James Hardie products, you get a couple of ways to build this look:
- HardiePanel vertical siding with battens — large fiber cement panels installed vertically, with cedar-textured or smooth battens fastened over the seams. This is the traditional board and batten build-up.
- Hardie Artisan Accent Trim or batten boards over lap or panel siding — used to create a board and batten section as part of a mixed-material facade, which is common on newer construction where the front elevation gets a different treatment than the sides and back.
Why the Substrate Matters More Than the Pattern
Board and batten has a specific vulnerability: the vertical seams and the battens themselves create hundreds of feet of exposed edge and fastener points on a typical home. Any water that gets behind a batten needs somewhere to go, and it needs a substrate that won't swell, cup, or rot while it dries out.
This is where the material choice stops being cosmetic. In Whatcom County, we're dealing with driving rain off the Strait, salt air near the water, and a moss season that runs long into the year on north-facing walls and anything shaded by trees. Wood board and batten — cedar or primed spruce — looks great for the first several years, then the maintenance clock starts running: refinishing battens, chasing paint failure at the seams, and watching for soft spots where moisture found a way in. Vinyl board and batten avoids rot but has its own issues: the vertical panels can show waviness as temperatures swing, and the "batten" lines are usually molded-in rather than true applied trim, which reads as flatter and less convincing up close.
Fiber cement doesn't have either problem. It's dimensionally stable, so the boards and battens stay straight and tight over time instead of telegraphing gaps at the seams. It's also non-combustible, which matters given how much dry vegetation and how many wood decks and fences surround homes in this area.
Color and Texture Options
Hardie's board and batten components come pre-finished in ColorPlus, their factory-applied finish system. That matters specifically for this style because board and batten has so much painted surface area and so many trim edges — the factory finish is baked on and backed by a separate finish warranty, rather than relying on field-painted battens that need to be caulked, primed, and coated correctly on site to hold up.
| Element | Typical Finish |
|---|---|
| Vertical panel or plank | Smooth or cedar-textured, ColorPlus factory finish |
| Battens | Smooth trim boards, color-matched or contrasting |
| Corners and trim | Hardie Trim boards, same finish system |
Board and batten reads well in both directions — a dark, saturated color for a modern look, or a lighter tone for something closer to traditional farmhouse. Because the vertical lines already add visual texture, most homeowners do better with a simpler, more restrained color choice here than they would with a horizontal lap profile.
Installation Details That Actually Matter
Board and batten is less forgiving of shortcuts than standard lap siding, because every seam is a potential water path. A correct installation means:
- Proper panel spacing and fastening per Hardie's vertical siding specifications, not field-improvised layout
- A drainage plane and weather-resistive barrier behind the panels, not just panels fastened straight to sheathing
- Battens fastened into framing or blocking, not just into the panel face
- Correct flashing at every horizontal transition — window heads, belly bands, and the base of the wall — since water running down a vertical seam will find any gap at these points
This is also why we don't treat board and batten as a DIY-friendly upgrade or hand it to a general contractor's crew as an afterthought. It's a system, and skipping steps here doesn't show up as a problem in year one — it shows up in year five or six, usually on the wall that takes the worst weather.
Where It Works Best
Board and batten doesn't have to cover a whole house to make an impact. A lot of the homes we work on in Ferndale and around Whatcom County use it as an accent — gables, a covered entry, a single street-facing elevation — paired with standard HardiePlank lap siding on the rest of the home. That approach controls cost while still giving the house a distinct look, and it keeps the highest-maintenance, most water-exposed style choice limited to areas where it's easiest to get the details right.
If you're considering board and batten for a remodel or a new build and want to talk through where it makes sense on your home, we're happy to walk the property with you and put together a free, no-pressure estimate.