Anacortes Siding Board & Batten Siding for Old Town Anacortes Homes
Old Town Anacortes has a look to it that a lot of the newer construction around Skagit County doesn't — older lots, mature trees, and homes with real farmhouse and maritime-cottage character built up over decades. Board and batten fits that character better than almost any other siding profile, which is part of why it keeps showing up on re-siding projects in this part of town, on additions, and on the garages and outbuildings that often sit alongside the main house. But board and batten isn't just a look you pick off a brochure. It's a joint pattern — vertical boards with a narrower strip covering each seam — and every one of those seams is a spot where water can try to work its way behind the siding. On a home this close to the water, in a climate that stays damp most of the year, how those seams are built matters as much as which siding goes up.
We install James Hardie fiber cement board and batten exclusively. Every seam, fastener, and flashing detail on an Old Town project gets built around what this specific location does to a wall over ten, twenty, and thirty years, not around what looks tidy on the day the crew packs up.
What This Part of Anacortes Does to a Vertical-Seam Wall
Salt Air Off the Surrounding Water
Fidalgo Island sits surrounded by saltwater, and Old Town's older neighborhoods, closer to the downtown core and the waterfront than a lot of newer Anacortes subdivisions, catch more of that salt-laden air directly. Salt exposure is hard on any exposed metal, and board and batten uses more fasteners per square foot than standard lap siding because both the boards and the battens each need to be secured. Getting fastener spec right — corrosion-resistant, correctly sized, correctly spaced — carries more weight on this profile than on most others, and it matters more here than it would on a home set back from the water.
Driving Rain, Not Straight-Down Rain
Rain in this part of Skagit County rarely falls straight down. Wind off the surrounding channels and straits pushes it sideways, and a vertical profile with battens running the full height of a wall gives that wind-driven rain a lot of seam length to test. A batten that's face-nailed tight with no room to move, or caulked shut instead of properly lapped and back-primed, turns into a wick that pulls moisture toward the fastener line instead of shedding it back off the wall.
A Moss Season That Runs Most of the Year
Old Town's older streets tend to have real tree canopy, which is part of the neighborhood's appeal but also means more shaded, slow-to-dry wall surfaces. Shade plus consistent moisture is exactly what moss and mildew need, and a batten set tight against a board with no ventilation gap traps that moisture right where it can't dry out. That's a slow path toward staining, softened substrate underneath, and paint failure right along the seam — the kind of damage that doesn't show up until a few wet seasons in.
Old Town's Older Housing Stock Adds Its Own Wrinkle
A lot of homes in Old Town Anacortes have been added onto, re-sided, or re-roofed more than once over the years, which means the wall assembly behind the existing siding isn't always uniform from one side of the house to the other. An addition from a different decade may have a different weather barrier, different sheathing, or different framing behind it than the original structure. Before we put new board and batten on a home like this, we look at what's actually behind the old siding on every wall, not just the walls that are easiest to access. Board and batten installed over a wall with hidden moisture damage or an inadequate drainage plane just buries the same problem under new material — and on a profile this unforgiving to redo, that's not a mistake worth making once, let alone finding out about later.
Why Product Choice Matters More on This Profile
Board and batten amplifies whatever weaknesses a siding material already has, because the seam count is higher and more material edge is exposed to weather than on a standard lap profile. That's a real part of why we don't offer LP SmartSide, vinyl, Cemplank, Allura, primed spruce, or cedar board and batten. Those are legitimate products, and other contractors install them competently — we made a professional call that on a profile with this many vertical seams, in a location this consistently damp and salt-exposed, standing behind one material system we trust completely serves Old Town homeowners better than offering a cheaper option that shifts the maintenance risk onto them down the road.
| Material | Behavior at Batten Seams | Maintenance in This Climate | Realistic Lifespan |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Hardie fiber cement | Dimensionally stable; doesn't swell or cup at the joint | Low; factory finish resists moss and salt-air fading | 30+ years with proper install |
| LP SmartSide (engineered wood) | More sensitive to moisture at cut edges and fastener holes | Moderate; edge sealing needs regular upkeep | 15-25 years, climate-dependent |
| Vinyl | Can warp or gap at battens under sun and cold cycling; seams less rigid | Low, but hidden moisture problems are hard to catch early | 20-30 years, variable |
| Cedar | Absorbs moisture readily at every seam without regular resealing | High; repainting or resealing on a recurring cycle | 15-25 years with consistent upkeep |
The fiber cement core in James Hardie's boards doesn't expand and contract with moisture the way wood-based products do, which is exactly the property that matters most on a profile built entirely out of vertical seams. The factory-applied ColorPlus finish also means the cut edges we prime on site are the exception, not the rule — unlike a field-painted material, where every board face depends on how well a coat of paint holds up outdoors year after year.
What a Correct Board & Batten Install Actually Involves
The finished look of board and batten is simple, but a correct install has a lot going on behind that surface that a quick drive-by inspection won't show you:
- House wrap or weather-resistive barrier installed and properly lapped before any siding goes up
- A drainage gap or rainscreen behind the siding so moisture that does get past the surface can dry out instead of sitting against the wall
- Boards fastened with corrosion-resistant fasteners at the manufacturer's specified spacing, not just "enough to hold it up"
- Battens set with the clearance Hardie's installation spec calls for, not caulked tight, so the wall can shed water instead of trapping it
- Properly flashed and lapped transitions at windows, doors, corners, and the base of the wall, where board and batten's vertical run meets a horizontal surface
- Factory-cured ColorPlus finish preserved by cutting boards face-down and priming any field-cut edges before they go up
Skip any one of these and the wall can still look fine for a season or two. The problems that show up when they're skipped — seam staining, soft spots near the base, paint failure along the battens — take a few wet winters to appear, which is exactly why a corner-cutting install can get away with it right up until the homeowner is the one dealing with it.
Our Process for an Old Town Anacortes Project
Walkthrough and Assessment
We start by looking at the actual walls involved: which face the water and weather most directly, which are shaded by mature trees and slower to dry, and whether the existing wall assembly has moisture issues that need addressing before new siding goes on. On an older home, this often means checking more than one wall type if the house has been added onto over the years.
Planning the Details Before Install Day
We work out batten spacing, corner details, and how the siding will meet windows, trim, and rooflines before crews start cutting material. On a profile with this many seams, settling the details on paper first avoids field improvisation, which is usually where corners get cut on a rushed job.
Installation to Manufacturer Spec
Every fastener, gap, and flashing lap follows James Hardie's published installation requirements for this climate zone, not a generic national standard. That's what keeps the manufacturer's warranty intact and what keeps the wall performing the way it's supposed to for decades, not just for the first few dry summers.
Final Walkthrough
We walk the finished job with you, cover what little maintenance board and batten actually needs in this climate, and make sure you know what a healthy wall looks like if you ever want to check it yourself down the road.
Why Hire a Crew That Already Works Old Town Anacortes
Board and batten rewards local experience in a way a lot of siding profiles don't, because the failure points are subtle and slow to show up. A crew that's installed this profile across Old Town and the surrounding neighborhoods through multiple wet seasons already knows which orientations need extra attention because of shade and tree cover, how much batten clearance actually holds up in air this consistently damp versus what a generic install guide suggests, and where a rainscreen gap earns its keep on a home this close to the water. That kind of judgment doesn't show up on a spec sheet. It's the difference between a board and batten wall that still looks and performs the same in fifteen years and one that's showing seam staining by year five.
Cost Factors for Board & Batten in This Neighborhood
Board and batten typically runs more per square foot than standard lap siding, mainly because of the added material (battens on top of boards) and the extra labor involved in fastening and detailing two layers instead of one. A few things move the price on a given Old Town home beyond the base material:
| Factor | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Existing wall condition | Older homes with prior additions may need repair work found during tear-off before new siding goes up |
| Wall height and complexity | More corners, dormers, and transitions mean more cuts and flashing details |
| Batten spacing and reveal | Tighter spacing uses more material and more fastening labor |
| Trim and window detailing | Older homes often have more window openings and trim profiles to work around |
| Site access | Narrower older lots and mature landscaping can add setup and labor time |
We'll walk your specific home and give you real numbers rather than a rough estimate based on square footage alone. Two Old Town homes with similar footprints can land at very different price points depending on how many of these factors are actually in play.
Getting It Right the First Time
Board and batten is not a forgiving profile to redo. Because the battens cover the seams between boards, correcting a bad install usually means pulling battens, boards, or both, rather than a simple patch job. That's part of why we treat the planning and detailing phase of an Old Town project as seriously as the install itself — the cost of getting it right the first time is a lot lower than the cost of tearing out a wall that was installed wrong for this climate.
If you're considering board and batten for a home in Old Town Anacortes, we're happy to walk the property, talk through what your specific walls need given their age, orientation, and exposure, and give you a straightforward, no-pressure estimate. There's a form below — reach out and we'll set up a time to take a look.