The Forestry Forum

We have the frame for a shed up on my property and I will be doing board and batten for the first time.  What screws do you recommend?  Both board and batten will be one inch pine.

I used 2.5" screws for the boards and 4" screws for the battens. I had better yield just doing board over board. Went quicker, too! I measured the width of each 'top' board, and subtracted 1.5" to set the spacing over for the next 'bottom' board. Adjusted approx 0.75" overlap on each side, 1 screw on top, 1 on bottom, NEXT! Went real fast. You can make 1" overlap per side if you prefer, I was just running short on wood so made it shorter. Worked out enough for a barn.
Alternatively you can screw the battens into the boards using 1.5 or 2" screws, but I was trying to catch the framing 2x4's with everything so went with long screws.

I'm using 2 1/2" star drive screws (stainless this time, but coated steel in the past) for the boards, just screwing down one side that will then be covered by my 2 1/2" wide battens. I screw these down with 3 1/2" screws, through the gap between the boards.


My hope is that by leaving the board only fixed on one side will allow it to move with moisture changes without a ton of checking. I've been doing it like this for 10 years now, and it looks good so far. 

For exterior work I'm a big fan of GRK screws. Hillman PowerPro are almost as good. GripRite are a distant third. That's what is available around me and there may be others where you are.

Quote from: Prizl tha Chizl on August 14, 2024, 04:31:48 AMI'm using 2 1/2" star drive screws (stainless this time, but coated steel in the past) for the boards, just screwing down one side that will then be covered by my 2 1/2" wide battens. I screw these down with 3 1/2" screws, through the gap between the boards.


My hope is that by leaving the board only fixed on one side will allow it to move with moisture changes without a ton of checking. I've been doing it like this for 10 years now, and it looks good so far.

^^^ This