Is board and batten siding harder to install correctly than standard horizontal lap siding?

Yes, generally. Vertical siding relies more heavily on the rainscreen gap, flashing, and fastening being done right, because there's no overlapping course doing the water-shedding work the way there is with lap siding. A rushed board and batten install tends to show problems sooner, especially in a wet climate like Whatcom County's.

What should I ask a contractor before hiring them for a board and batten job in Kendall?

Ask whether they'll install a rainscreen drainage gap behind the panels, how they handle flashing at windows and horizontal transitions, and whether they've worked on vertical siding in this specific area before. A contractor who can speak specifically to those details, rather than general siding talk, is usually the one who's done it right before.

Why won't you install vinyl or LP SmartSide for a board and batten project?

We standardized on James Hardie fiber cement because of how it performs in this climate specifically: it doesn't warp or trap moisture the way vinyl can, and it doesn't share the wood-based vulnerability of LP SmartSide. It's a professional standard we hold across every job, not a judgment on any one homeowner's preference.

What is HZ10, and why does it matter for a Kendall home?

HZ10 is James Hardie's product engineering for high-humidity, wet climate zones, which includes the Pacific Northwest. It's formulated to hold up to sustained moisture exposure better than a non climate-zoned fiber cement product, which matters given how much of the year Kendall siding stays damp.

Does Kendall's more rural, open setting change how board and batten should be installed compared to in-town Lynden?

The core installation standards don't change, but exposure often does. More open acreage properties can see more direct wind-driven rain hitting a wall with less windbreak than a closer-in Lynden lot, which makes correct flashing and rainscreen detailing even more important on the exposed elevations.

Kendall Board & Batten Siding — Lynden's Local Install Crew

Board & Batten Siding in Kendall: A Style That Has to Earn Its Keep

Kendall sits in the rural stretch of Whatcom County between Lynden and the Mt. Baker foothills, and homes out here take weather differently than a house tucked into a subdivision closer to town. More open exposure, more wind moving across fields and tree lines, and long stretches of the year where siding stays damp instead of drying out between rain events. Board & batten is a popular look for this area's farmhouses, barns-turned-homes, and newer builds going for a clean vertical-line style — but the look only holds up if the material and the installation underneath it are built for the exposure it's actually going to see.

This page is specifically about board & batten siding for Kendall properties, not a general overview of the style. We work this area regularly, and what follows is what we tell homeowners here before a job starts.

What Whatcom County Weather Does to Vertical Siding

Board & batten has more vertical seams and more exposed edge than lap siding, and every one of those seams is a place water can find its way in if the installation isn't right. A few things about this region make that especially relevant:

Driving rain — storms coming off the Pacific push rain sideways, not just down, which means vertical joints and butt seams take on more direct water pressure than they would in a calmer climate.
Marine-influenced air — Whatcom County's proximity to Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia keeps humidity and salt-laced air moving through the region, which is harder on fasteners, paint film, and unprotected wood than a drier inland climate.
Long moss season — shaded north sides, tree-lined lots, and mild wet winters give moss and algae months at a time to establish on any surface that holds moisture, and board & batten's batten strips create extra ledges and shadow lines where it gets a foothold.

None of this makes board & batten a bad choice for a Kendall home. It means the product and the install have to be chosen with this climate in mind, not just for how the finished wall looks on a dry day.

Why Board & Batten Fits This Area

Board & batten reads as agricultural and Pacific Northwest at the same time, which is part of why it works so well on the acreage properties and converted outbuildings common around Kendall. It also does something practical: the vertical lines and raised battens create shadow relief on a wall, which can make a flat elevation look more finished without adding a lot of extra trim detail. Homeowners often pair it as an accent — a gable end, an entry wall, a shop or detached garage — alongside horizontal lap siding on the rest of the house, or run it on the whole structure for a more traditional farmhouse look.

The trade-off is that vertical siding is less forgiving of a rushed installation than horizontal lap. There's no overlap doing the water-shedding work for you the way there is with lap siding — the seams, the flashing, and the gap behind each batten are what keep the wall dry, and all three depend entirely on how the crew builds it.

What a Correct Board & Batten Job Actually Involves

Rainscreen gap behind the panel

A true board & batten wall needs a drainage gap between the back of the panel and the water-resistive barrier, usually created with vertical furring strips. That gap lets any moisture that gets past the surface drain and dry out instead of sitting against the sheathing. On a property with the amount of moisture exposure Kendall sees, skipping this step is one of the most common ways a board & batten job fails early.

Batten spacing and fastening

Battens have to be spaced and fastened so they cover the vertical joints without trapping water behind them, and fasteners need to land in framing, not just the panel, with the right embedment depth. Over-driven or under-driven fasteners are a common failure point on vertical siding because the shrink-swell movement in wet climates works loose fasteners faster than it does in a dry one.

Flashing at every horizontal transition

Window heads, water tables, roof-to-wall intersections, and the bottom starter course all need proper flashing and kick-out details. Vertical siding funnels water straight down to these transition points, so any flashing shortcut shows up there first, usually as staining or soft trim within a few wet seasons.

Caulking and sealant, used correctly

Board & batten depends on sealant more than lap siding does, but sealant is a backup to good flashing and building science, not a substitute for it. A wall that relies on caulk to stay dry is a wall that's going to fail once that caulk ages out.

James Hardie Board & Batten: The Only System We Put On a Wall

We install James Hardie fiber cement exclusively — not vinyl, not LP SmartSide, not cedar or primed spruce, and not other fiber cement brands. For board & batten specifically, that means HardiePanel vertical siding paired with Hardie batten trim, finished in a factory-applied ColorPlus finish rather than field-primed and painted on site.

A few reasons this matters for a Kendall install specifically:

Non-combustible core — fiber cement doesn't feed a fire the way wood-based siding can, which matters in a county that sees wildfire smoke and dry-season fire risk in surrounding areas even with a wet climate most of the year.
Moisture-engineered for the Pacific Northwest — Hardie's HZ10 product line is formulated for high-humidity, wet climates like this one, unlike generic fiber cement or wood siding that isn't climate-zoned.
Factory finish, not field paint — ColorPlus finish is baked on at the factory and backed by its own finish warranty, which matters on a texture like board & batten that has more exposed edge and joint than flat lap siding.
It doesn't feed moss the way wood does — fiber cement doesn't absorb and hold moisture like wood substrates, so it doesn't create the same organic surface that moss and algae root into over a wet Whatcom County winter.

We won't quote board & batten in cedar, primed wood, or vinyl for a Kendall property, and we won't install a customer-supplied version of those materials either. That's a deliberate standard, not a sales pitch — we've seen how each of those materials ages in this specific climate, and it's why we standardized on Hardie.

Comparing Board & Batten Materials for This Climate

Material	Moisture behavior in a wet climate	Moss/algae resistance	Finish	Typical lifespan here
James Hardie fiber cement	Dimensionally stable, engineered for high-humidity zones	Doesn't feed organic growth like a wood substrate	Factory ColorPlus finish, warrantied	Decades with correct install
Cedar / primed spruce	Absorbs moisture, prone to swelling and cupping	Wood substrate is a food source for moss and mildew	Field-painted, needs recoating	Shorter, maintenance-dependent
Vinyl board & batten	Doesn't rot, but expands and contracts and can warp	Resists moss but traps moisture behind panels if installed loose	Color molded in, fades over time	Variable, seams and fasteners are weak points
LP SmartSide	Engineered wood, better than raw wood but still wood-based	Wood-based substrate remains more vulnerable than fiber cement	Factory primed or finished, depends on line	Maintenance-dependent

How We Approach a Kendall Job

The process starts with a walk-around of the house and a look at how water actually moves across the property — where runoff drains, which walls stay shaded and damp longest, and where existing moss or staining already shows on the current siding or trim. That tells us where extra flashing attention or drainage detail matters most before a single panel goes up.

From there:

Remove existing siding down to the sheathing and inspect for rot or moisture damage before covering anything up.
Repair or replace damaged sheathing and correct the water-resistive barrier where needed.
Install furring strips to create the rainscreen drainage gap behind the panels.
Flash all windows, doors, and horizontal transitions before siding goes on.
Install HardiePanel and battens to manufacturer fastening specs, with attention to butt joints and corners.
Seal and finish transition points, then walk the finished job with the homeowner.

Because we work Kendall and the surrounding Lynden area regularly, we're not learning the area's drainage patterns or common problem spots on your job for the first time. We've already seen how these houses hold up a few winters after the siding goes on, and we build accordingly.

Maintaining Board & Batten in a Wet, Mossy Climate

Fiber cement is low-maintenance compared to wood, but low-maintenance isn't no-maintenance in a climate like this one. A short seasonal checklist keeps a board & batten wall looking and performing the way it should:

Rinse the exterior once or twice a year with a garden hose and soft brush; skip the pressure washer, which can force water behind panels and battens.
Check shaded, north-facing sections in late winter for early moss growth and address it before it spreads.
Keep gutters clear so overflow isn't running straight down a wall section.
Trim back vegetation and tree cover that keeps a wall section shaded and damp longer than the rest of the house.
Inspect caulking at trim and window transitions every year or two and re-seal it if it's cracking or pulling away.
Check the base of the wall where board & batten meets the foundation for splashback staining, which usually points to a grading or gutter issue rather than a siding problem.

Why a Local Crew Matters More on This Style

Board & batten punishes shortcuts more visibly than lap siding does — missed flashing or a skipped rainscreen gap tends to show up as staining, soft trim, or moss right at the seams within a few wet seasons, not years down the road. A crew that already works Kendall and the rest of Whatcom County has seen that play out on real houses in this exact climate, not in a showroom or a manual. That's the difference between a crew that installs board & batten correctly because they've had to fix it when it wasn't, and one that's installing it in this climate for the first time.

If you're weighing board & batten for a Kendall property — a full house, an accent wall, or a shop or outbuilding — we're glad to walk the property with you and put together a straightforward, no-pressure estimate using James Hardie fiber cement built for exactly this climate.