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Calcimator

Board and Batten Calculator

Calculate boards, battens, on-centre spacing and material cost for a board-and-batten wall or siding run, from wall dimensions, board width and batten spacing — including the even spacing you actually mark out.

Inputs

Results

Boards across

17

Battens18
Actual spacing on centre11.29 in
Batten lap per side1 in
Board to buy188 lin ft
Batten to buy199 lin ft
Material cost$630.30
Board cost$451.20
Batten cost$179.10
Net wall area128 sq ft
Pieces per vertical run1
Face area covered128 sq ft
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter the wall width and height.
  2. Set the actual face width of your boards and battens — nominal 1×12 and 1×3 stock measure 11.25 in and 2.5 in.
  3. Choose the gap the battens will cover; solid wood siding needs one for expansion.
  4. Read the actual on-centre spacing and mark that out rather than the nominal board width.

How the result changes with Board width (in)

Board width (in)Boards across
3.351
9.0521
1612
229

What each input means

Wall width (ft)
Width of the wall or elevation to cover.
Wall height (ft)
Floor-to-ceiling or sill-to-eave height.
Board width (in)
Actual face width of the wide boards (a 1×12 measures 11.25 in).
Batten width (in)
Actual face width of the narrow battens (a 1×3 measures 2.5 in).
Gap between boards (in)
Expansion gap the batten covers. Leave some for solid wood siding.
Stock length (ft)
Length of the boards you are buying.
Openings to deduct (sq ft)
Total window and door area.
Waste factor (%)
Extra material for cuts and defects.
Board cost per linear ft ($)
Price per linear foot of the wide board.
Batten cost per linear ft ($)
Price per linear foot of the batten stock.

What each result means

Boards across
Number of wide boards across the wall.
Battens
One per seam plus one at each end.
Actual spacing on centre
Even spacing to mark out — tighter than the nominal repeat once the count is rounded up.
Batten lap per side
How far the batten covers each board. Negative means it is too narrow to cover the gap.
Board to buy
Linear feet of wide board including waste.
Batten to buy
Linear feet of batten including waste.
Material cost
Boards plus battens.
Net wall area
Wall area less openings.
Pieces per vertical run
How many lengths stack to reach the wall height.

How this is calculated

Formula

boards = ⌈wall width ÷ (board width + gap)⌉; spacing = wall width ÷ boards; battens = boards + 1

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Find the repeating unit
    repeat = board width + gap
    11.25 in + 0.5 in = 11.75 in per board
  2. Divide the wall width by the repeat
    boards = ⌈wall width ÷ repeat⌉
    ⌈192 in ÷ 11.75 in⌉ = 17 boards
  3. Re-space evenly across the wall
    actual spacing = wall width ÷ boards
    192 in ÷ 17 = 11.29 in on centre
  4. Add a batten to every seam and both ends
    battens = boards + 1
    17 + 1 = 18 battens
  5. Check the batten covers the gap
    lap per side = (batten width − gap) ÷ 2
    (2.5 in − 0.5 in) ÷ 2 = 1 in onto each board
  6. Convert to linear feet and add waste
    linear ft = count × pieces per run × stock length × (1 + waste)
    boards: 17 × 1 × 10 ft × 1.1 = 188 lin ft board, 199 lin ft batten

Engine last updated .

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