The reason for the 16" spacing likely has to do with "dividing" a 4' space/panel equally as builders do when spacing studs Putting a second board between the two edge boards helps keep the center of a 4' panel from bowing in the center and puts the battens over a stud so you have something to which to nail them.

If you try to use 24" spacing, you're likely to NOT have a stud beneath the middle of your 4' panel (without adding one) to which to secure your 4' panel. Know what is beneath the panel you're adding before you try to go that route.

Recommend you stay with the 16" spacing.

suezbell makes good points. Having said that, I have vertical 12" Hardie planks with battens over sheathing, and galvanized nails into the sheathing. I have not had any problems in the almost 20 years since the house was built even though my spacing probably hits very few studs.

Typical Board & Baton siding is or was 1 x 12 boards with a 1 x 3 (approx) baton. In my opinion using sheet goods to imitate board & baton and then using atypical baton spacing will show the siding for what it truly is.

A lot depends on the scale of your house and the amount of exterior wall there is. I have rarely done board & batten siding, and when I have it was either 9" or 12" spacing.

Agree with Mark about narrower spacing. I think widely spaced battens can lack visual interest and could cheapen the exterior appearance. I know you're interested in photos of wide spacing, but here is a shot of my 12" spacing, so you have something to compare to:

Like the spacing of the boardnbattan on the structures in the pic of kudzu9.

Thank you all; your insights have been very helpful. I didn't understand why I was having such trouble finding examples of the larger spacing until @millworkman's comment. Now I see that anything above a 16" board is probably more accurately termed sheet & batten :)

@PPF. thank you so much for those renderings! I think I will be able to make a decision now even without photos!

I would say the decision should be 12" or 16" spacing, and depending on the size of the house I would likely recommend 12"

Yep, 12" OC is always a good guide.

@kudzu9 what size batten did you use?

@BeverlyFLADeziner do you know the size batten used in the pictures you posted?

Thank you!

Deana-

My battens are fairly beefy: 1" X 1-3/4" actual

Thanks for explaining the reason for 16” spacing. Many of the homes in my area (Pacific Northwest) have board and batten siding. Most are James Hardie cement fiberboards and 2.5”x0.75” battens. I see all finishes - smooth, cedarmill, and stucco boards with smooth or rustic battens. Most have batten spacing of 16” and there is a smaller proportion of 12” and 24”. There are new homes being built near me with board and batten and I asked the builder this week what most buyers are requesting and he said there is an increasing number of requests for 24” to create more of a modern farmhouse look. Seeing different batten spacing all on one street was helpful and the wider spacing did look more modern but didn’t lack visual interest (partially because there were other architectural features). I know this is an older post but thought I would add this observation for others who are researching batten spacing. My husband and I like the wider spacing (16”-24”), but can also see why 12” would look nice and be the right choice for certain houses and styles.

@Brianne Margolin do you know if you had to have double wall construction for the board and batten using the hardie board? we are in PNW too, central oregon and I am in an argument with husband and framer along with our material supplier....they all say we have to do double wall construction if I want hardie (I want a smooth underlayment) for our board and batten) from what I am reading and learning I only see you need one layer of sheathing for new construction.

I’m not sure what type of construction we have but since our home was built in 2012 my guess is that it’s double wall (I think Oregon code required double wall starting in 2011 but I’m not sure). When all the siding was removed, the house was covered in OSB. After the weather barrier they marked all the studs so the board and batten could be attached to the studs. We used smooth board and battens and it looks smooth to me (although it hasn’t been painted yet). I attached a pic where you can see the OSB, weather barrier, and the start of the board and batten on the second level (24” spacing). You might try searching the Pro technical docs or calling another siding company for a second opinion. After spending $50k to replace siding on a house less than 10 years old I would choose function over form (even though the look is a big deal to me).

https://www.jameshardiepros.com/install-and-tech-docs/docs