Which way do you turn your battens?

[Qweaver]

I've tried to research this and I get no clear method.  If you've successfully done battens...tell me how you did yours. 
Thanks

[Tom]

I think that the true answer is one of personal preference.  But I've considered some of the weathering factors of a board before and it seems to me that the bark side of board is usually the preferred  wear and weather surface.  The reason has to do with the overlap of a growth ring in a flat-sawn board.  The bark side of a board has overlapping growth rings and the pith side of a board has free-to-the-surface growth rings.  That is my own designation, for no better description. 

I get this opinion from learning about Shelling.  Shelling is when the bonds between the early wood and the late wood give up and a ring separates.  When this happens on the pith side of the board, a cathedral shaped piece of growth ring will stick up into the weathering surface or wear surface.  I'm sure you've seen this on floors.  It is an ominous sight when one is barefoot and walking on a surface where there is shelling.   An old-timer may say something like, "be careful or you'll get stobbed (stabbed)."

The same release of a growth ring to the weathering surface will catch water and dirt, allowing it to enter into the innards of the board and not dry quickly.

Another argument that might be proposed would be that a board moves toward the bark.  So, cup, in a board with the bark-side exposed to the weather surface, would curl away from the side of the building, unless the fasteners can hold it down.  A board with the pith side exposed would cup toward the building and might keep the edges tighter.  Of course, in the first example, you could say that air getting beneath the board might help to keep it dry while water beneath a board that has the pith to the outside, might trap water.

Battens are usually quite narrow, compared to the boards that form the sheeting.  I would imagine that they would not cup much and shelling is probably minimal as well.  Since they are so narrow and probably ripped from wider boards, their grain orientation may be more on the vertical arena. So the difficulty might really be in the crooking of the board, in which case, it's thickness would have a lot to do with how well the fasteners can hold it down.

Battens are usually placed such that there is at least an inch of overlap on each board.  The boards that form the sheeting are butted up with one another and the thin batten strips are laid over the crack.  Fasteners are applied, either alternately to one side or the other, or, straight up the middle of the batten.  By keeping the fastener in between the sheeting boards, or only in one of them, the drying stresses are not supposed to pull the batten away to one side or the other.

I've heard the positive and negatives of all kinds of fasteners.  Screws will not back out, but are slow to apply and don't always come out.  Many of the problems of repair of screwed sufaces come about when the screw rusts and the head pops off.  Still, a screw is a very strong fastener.

Screw nails are a one-time-application fasteners.  I've used them in decks and they are usually in there for good.  Board and Batten construction's strong point is that it is easily repaired.  By using difficult fasteners and limiting oneself to single sized boards, those eases are defeated, to some extent.

It is common for board and batten siding to reach the dirt where it will rot.   It works best on taller rock, block or off-grade foundations, where the boards can go below the sill without being in the dirt or suffer from splash.

Now, that's a mouthful.  I guess there is fodder enough in all of that for a study to begin. :D :D

[WDH]

Q,

I agree with Tom that keeping the battens on the narrow side will make the cupping issue less important.  Then, you could orient them with the best face showing and not worry so much about the cupping.

[SPIKER]

Tom looks to have covered pretty much all of the good ideas.   One thing if the boards are green the shrinkage will often pull away from the nails if you do nail up green or higher moisture then you need to nail between the boards nearly centering the baton and dont nail into the boards as they shrink enough to split around the nails.   also screws can be a pain but if the baton shrinks the screw can be re=screwed tightening the baton down some.   be warned that the screw needs to have a bare shank other wise when it shrinks it will pull away and gap between the board & baton surface and the screw head will be exposed some too.

Mark

[Chuck White]

I like to use 1x10 boards with 1x3 battens.

I will usually saw out a bunch of 1x12, 1x9, 1x6, etc, stand them up on edge and rip out at 3 inch intervals.

I have the old style clamp, the flipper one, and I start out with the flipper down and clamp the boards good and snug.

I've found that doing it that way, the boards can't bow while on the mill.