@David McGee and @cpartist. Interested in your opinions, this thread is really interesting! We are thinking of doing a half board and batten design, where the b&b is on the 1st floor. The first picture is one of the only examples we've seen in person. Any thoughts on the 2 pictures of the design shown below? Should we flip the b&b to the 2nd floor? This design seems like a bold move, and having a hard time picturing how different color choices/configurations will look.

Tib...we had Certainteed. Many boards cracked. The co replaced the boards. We paid for the labor to replace them. They didn't match due to fading. House had to be repainted. They provided a few buckets of paint, lol. just a headache with all of the warranty issues. Then there was a class action suit that we chose not to participate in....yada, yada, yada. I haven't seen the issues online with the Nichiha and have considered this brand as well. lots of good stuff online about the LP Smart Siding but who really knows about that stuff in a few years. Gotta choose something sooner or later.

Thank you! I considered the 7" vinyl B & B which was the least expensive but I thought it looked too busy and "striped".....the 12" B & B looked much sleeker and more modern to me and it is insulated which I really like. My electric bills have been so reasonable this summer running the a/c-and I believe it is definitely due to the extra insulation. I'm not sure how Certainteed vinyl compares price-wise to Hardie because I never got an estimate.

I’ve received 3 quotes in the last month to replace our siding with James Hardie cement fiber board. I had all start with a quote that was for all lap siding. After the first proposal I asked for the price if I changed the 2nd story to board and batten. The prices didn’t change. One company told me board and batten required more labor because the panels must be held by 2 people when installed so they don’t bend or crack. I ran this by the other two companies who said it wouldn’t matter because they always have at least two people on site for installation. Based on the cost, I didn’t explore shingles because all 3 told me it would cost a lot more and the quotes were all more than I anticipated and 30% higher than the quotes I received in 2020.