Board and Batten Calculator
A 16 ft by 8 ft wall with 12 in boards and 3 in battens at a 16 in target takes 16 boards and 13 battens. The even spacing is 15.75 in on center, 128.00 linear feet of board and 104.00 linear feet of batten.
Last updated . One wall opens at 16 ft wide and 8 ft high. Board width starts at 12 in. Batten width starts at 3 in. The target starts at 16 in on center.
A board and batten calculator for one wall. Battens are spaced evenly between two end pieces that sit fully on the wall. Boards cover the width, and the last one may be ripped.
Studs behind the boards: stud calculator. Cladding by the square: siding calculator. Nominal board measure, which this page does not use: board foot calculator.
Boards and battens
The two end battens sit fully on the wall, so their centers are one half-batten in from each edge. The spaces between centers are equal. The target on-center distance chooses how many spaces, by rounding. Boards cover the wall edge to edge, and the last board may be a rip.
Results
How the boards and battens are counted
Center span = wall width − batten width. Spaces = round(center span ÷ target), and at least one. Even spacing = center span ÷ spaces. Battens = spaces + 1. If that even spacing is not wider than the batten, the pieces would overlap and the form stops. Boards = ceil(wall width ÷ board width). Linear feet of each kind = count × height.
On the opening wall the center span is 15.75 ft and the 16 in target rounds to 12 spaces, so 13 battens land 15.75 in apart. Sixteen boards, each 8 ft, are 128.00 ft. Thirteen battens, each 8 ft, are 104.00 ft. Calling those “board feet” would mix them up with the nominal-size measure on the board foot page, so the result rows say linear feet.
This is a layout for a single rectangle. A second wall is a second pass. No published spacing is assumed, and nothing here is a code table. The 12 in, 3 in, and 16 in figures are the sizes in the boxes.
Counts for the 16 ft wall
| Target | Boards | Battens | Even spacing | Board linear feet | Batten linear feet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 in, batten 3 in | 16 | 13 | 15.75 in | 128.00 ft | 104.00 ft |
| 12 in, batten 3 in | 16 | 17 | 11.81 in | 128.00 ft | 136.00 ft |
Worked example
Leave 16 ft by 8 ft, a 12 in board, a 3 in batten, and a 16 in target. Boards reads 16. Battens reads 13. Even spacing reads 1.3125 ft · 15.75 in. Board linear feet reads 128.00 ft. Batten linear feet reads 104.00 ft.
Board and batten questions
How many boards and battens cover a 16 by 8 wall?
Leave wall width at 16 ft, wall height at 8 ft, board width at 12 in, batten width at 3 in, and the target at 16 in. Boards reads 16. Battens reads 13. Even spacing reads 1.3125 ft · 15.75 in. Board linear feet reads 128.00 ft. Batten linear feet reads 104.00 ft.
Why 13 battens at 15.75 in instead of 16 in?
Both ends keep a full batten inside the wall, which shortens the center-to-center span to 16 − 0.25 = 15.75 ft. A 16 in target is 1.333333 ft. 15.75 ÷ 1.333333 = 11.8125, which rounds to 12 spaces. Even spacing is 15.75 ÷ 12 = 1.3125 ft, or 15.75 in. Battens are the spaces plus one, 13. The target only chooses the count. The installed centers are equal.
Why 16 boards and 128.00 ft?
A 12 in board is 1 ft, and 16 ÷ 1 rounds up to 16 boards. 16 × 8 ft of height is 128.00 ft of board. 13 × 8 is 104.00 ft of batten. The last board is a rip when the wall width is not a whole number of boards. These linear feet are the stick length. They are not the board-foot measure of a nominal size.
What if the battens would overlap?
Set batten width to 12 in and the target to 4 in, and leave the wall at 16 ft by 8 ft. Every result line reads —. The note reads: Even spacing is not wider than the batten, so the battens would overlap. Use a narrower batten or a wider target. A batten at least as wide as the wall reads: The batten is at least as wide as the wall.
Does this count more than one wall?
No. The form is one wall. Run it again for the next wall and add the counts yourself. There is no quantity box. Height is the length of each board and each batten, so a gable that shortens some pieces is not in these linear feet.
What if I want the centers closer to 12 in?
Set the target to 12 in and put the batten back to 3 in. The center span is still 15.75 ft. 15.75 ÷ 1 = 15.75, which rounds to 16 spaces. Battens reads 17. Even spacing reads 0.9844 ft · 11.81 in. Boards stays 16. Board linear feet stays 128.00 ft. Batten linear feet reads 136.00 ft.
What has to be greater than zero?
Width, height, board width, batten width, and the target each have to be greater than zero. If one of them is blank, every result line reads — and the note asks for each of those five. No price and no waste percent are on this page.