Lynden Siding Board & Batten Built for Kendall's Rural Landscape
Kendall sits out where Whatcom County starts to feel like farm and foothill country — open lots, older barns, and homes that were built to work with the land rather than fight it. Board and batten siding fits that setting naturally. The vertical lines read as classic Pacific Northwest farmhouse and craftsman styling, and on acreage properties or homes set back from the road, that strong vertical profile holds up visually at a distance in a way that flat lap siding sometimes doesn't.
But board and batten is also one of the least forgiving siding profiles to get wrong. The battens create seams, shadow lines, and dozens of extra fastener points compared to a lap siding job on the same wall. In a climate like Whatcom County's — salt air drifting in off the Salish Sea, driving rain that comes in sideways during fall and winter storms, and a moss season that can run eight months out of the year on shaded, north-facing walls — every one of those seams is a place where water, wind, or organic growth can get a foothold if the installation isn't done correctly.
What Kendall's Climate Actually Does to Vertical Siding
Moss and a Long Growing Season
Kendall's proximity to the foothills means more shade, more standing moisture, and slower drying times than homes closer to open, sunnier ground. Board and batten's vertical battens create horizontal ledges at the bottom of every board where moisture, pollen, and organic debris collect. On north- and east-facing walls that don't get much direct sun, that debris turns into a moss and algae base that spreads across the face of the siding if it isn't shedding water and drying out the way it should.
Driving Rain and Wind-Loaded Walls
Whatcom County storms don't just drop rain straight down — wind off the water and out of the passes pushes it sideways into exposed walls. Board and batten depends on the batten overlap and the gap behind it to manage that. If the battens are face-nailed tight to a wall with no drainage plane behind them, wind-driven rain gets forced past the seams and has nowhere to go, which is exactly how sheathing rot starts from the inside out, long before it shows on the surface.
Salt Air and Fastener Corrosion
Homes throughout Whatcom County, including inland communities like Kendall, still see salt-laden air move through on a regular basis. Salt air accelerates corrosion on anything less than a high-quality, coated fastener — and a corroded nail or screw head is a failure point that eventually lets water track behind the siding at the exact spots you're relying on to stay sealed.
What a Correct Board & Batten Installation Actually Involves
Board and batten is not a "just add vertical strips" job. Done right, it's a layered system, and skipping a layer is how a good-looking installation fails in five years instead of lasting decades.
A Real Drainage Plane, Not Just a House Wrap
Behind the panels there needs to be a code-compliant water-resistive barrier, properly lapped and taped at every seam and penetration, with flashing integrated at windows, doors, and any horizontal trim. On a lot of Kendall homes we work on — especially ones with mature trees and heavy shade — we'll also recommend a rainscreen gap (furring strips) behind the siding so trapped moisture has somewhere to go and air can actually move behind the wall.
The Panel-and-Batten System Itself
We install this using James Hardie's fiber cement system — either HardiePanel vertical siding with HardieTrim battens over the seams, or the dedicated Hardie Artisan board and batten profile where a more refined, tighter-reveal look is called for. Both are engineered for the wet, marine-influenced climate on this side of the state, factory-finished with ColorPlus so the color coat is baked on rather than field-painted, and rated to hold up to the freeze-thaw and moisture cycling that's normal for a Whatcom County winter.
Fastening and Flashing Details
Every batten gets fastened per Hardie's engineering specs — correct nail or screw type, correct spacing, correct embedment depth. Z-flashing goes above any horizontal trim or transition. Butt joints are staggered and back-flashed rather than just caulked and hoped for. None of this shows once the job is finished, which is exactly why it's the part that separates a siding job that lasts thirty years from one that needs re-caulking in five.
Board & Batten Design and Material Factors
| Factor | What It Affects on a Kendall Home |
|---|---|
| Batten spacing and width | Wider spacing reads more rustic/agricultural; tighter spacing gives a more refined farmhouse look — both need consistent fastening to perform the same |
| Panel vs. individual board profile | Panel-and-batten covers more wall per install day; individual vertical boards with separate battens gives a deeper shadow line but more seams to detail correctly |
| Rainscreen gap | Adds drying capacity behind the siding — worth the extra step on shaded, north-facing, or heavily treed lots common around Kendall |
| Factory finish (ColorPlus) vs. field paint | Factory finish resists UV fade and moisture intrusion at the coating level; field-painted siding needs repainting on a much shorter cycle |
| Fastener grade | Corrosion-resistant fasteners matter more here than in a drier inland climate, given the salt air moving through the region |
How We Handle a Board & Batten Job in Kendall
The process doesn't change because a job is small or large — it changes based on what the wall and the site are telling us.
- Site and wall assessment — we check existing sheathing condition, shade exposure, drainage paths around the foundation, and whether the current siding shows signs of trapped moisture before we ever price the job.
- Moisture barrier and flashing plan — every window, door, and horizontal transition gets a flashing detail mapped out before installation starts, not improvised on the fly.
- Rainscreen decision — on shaded or heavily wooded lots we'll recommend furring strips behind the panels; on open, sunnier walls a standard drainage wrap may be sufficient.
- Installation to Hardie spec — correct fasteners, correct spacing, correct batten overlap, staggered joints, back-flashed seams.
- Final walk-through — we check every seam, corner, and penetration before we consider the job finished, not just the parts visible from the street.
Why a Crew That Already Works Kendall Matters
Kendall isn't downtown Bellingham, and it isn't the coast — it has its own mix of tree cover, exposure, lot layout, and older housing stock that a crew needs to have actually worked in to price and install correctly the first time. A contractor who already knows which walls in this area tend to hold moisture, which sides catch the worst of the wind-driven rain, and how much shade a given lot really gets through the winter isn't guessing at rainscreen decisions or fastener grades — they're applying what's already worked on homes down the road.
That local familiarity also shows up in smaller ways: knowing the realistic weather windows for installation in Whatcom County, understanding regional permitting and inspection expectations, and not treating a Kendall property like it's identical to a job across the county line.
Living With Board & Batten Through Whatcom County's Moss Season
Even a correctly installed board and batten system benefits from a little seasonal attention, especially given how long moss season runs in this part of the state.
- Rinse shaded and north-facing walls with a garden hose once or twice a year to clear early moss and algae growth before it establishes
- Keep gutters clear so overflow isn't running down the face of the siding and feeding moss growth at the top courses
- Trim back trees and shrubs that are keeping any wall in constant shade and slowing drying time
- Have seams, corners, and trim checked periodically for any caulk or flashing that's pulled away, especially after a hard winter storm season
- Avoid pressure washing directly into seams or up under battens — it can force water past a joint that would otherwise shed it fine
None of this is heavy maintenance — it's the same kind of upkeep any exterior in this climate needs. The difference is that a correctly installed, factory-finished Hardie system needs far less of it, and recovers faster when it does need attention.
Get a Straight Answer on Your Kendall Home
If you're weighing board and batten for a home in or around Kendall, we're glad to come take a real look at the walls, the shade, and the exposure before we talk numbers. Reach out for a free, no-pressure estimate — we'll tell you honestly what your home needs and why.