I agree with your line of thinking. I think varying siding is an inexpensive detail and so gets used a lot. But certainly not required.

What does your architect want to do?
Siding changes from front to sides is just cost savings, and done because people pay less attention to other faces of a house. Our prudish home will only have board and batten on the front, but our custom design had it on all sides (board and batten on top with siding on bottom). What you do totally depends on your elevations.

Ha, not prudish. Production.

As far as one siding, it depends on the design of the house.

The choice(s) of exterior materials will depend on the specific style and size of the home. With the visualization tools available you can evaluate a number of alternatives without leaving your chair. The greater the number of materials in the mix, the greater the opportunity to mess up the final product.

Our home is currently all board and batten and it fits the style of the home. We’re replacing with all board and batten.

Hi anj_p, my architect wanted me to do stone veneer and at least two types of siding — on a small home. He only provides pencil drawings, but it looked very busy. He really discouraged me from going 100% board & batten, but that’s what I really want.

Hi newkitchenny55, I’d love to see a picture!

We have a larger home and even then all one colour with two siding types. For a single story home I totally would have gone with one siding type. We have hardie lap siding and panels. No stone anywhere. Designers and architects seem to love stone. Not for us

Wow, that seems like a lot. I agree with @WestCoast Hopeful that I would ditch the stone veneer (will save you $ as well). If your architect wants lap siding on the sides and back, that's probably just a money saver. If you want B&B all around then do it.

No stone veneer on a small home. It usually looks obviously fake.

It sounds like you have a better "eye" for good design than your architect. What he is proposing sounds more like what draftsmen do and not architects. Go with what works for YOU. It's your house and it sounds right.

I think multiple sidings is a way people try to decorate a house that isn't really needed. So often here we see elevations with 3 types of siding and stone, too. It is usually just too much.

FWIW, the home we are building is all board and batten. It is what we thought we wanted and what our architect thought would be best as well.

@F N This is the before. We're replacing with hardie board and batten but should look similar, just different color and in better shape than the current wood

Exterior | LenteRenovation · More Info

Exterior | LenteRenovation · More Info

doc5md, I’d love to see a picture of yours as well! Thanks!

Curious about folks saying lap saves money. We’re using Hardie siding. Is lap generally cheaper than board & batten? I haven’t heard back from my contractor’s rep on pricing differences.

Fran, our builder told us that lap would be less costly than board and batten because of labor. It's possible that the materials are a bit less as well, but the labor to install lap is cheaper because all the subs are used to it, and I guess it is easier to cut and fit, no huge panels that have to be cut (possible waste), etc. I don't know for sure, but we originally had board & batten Hardieboard specified and decided to change to lap siding when lumber prices went up and we needed to cut a few "wants" from our budget. We really want a standing seam metal roof, which is a very expensive choice vs. asphalt shingles, so we also decided that all those vertical lines along with b&b siding on a smaller house like we are building could be too much, so that also influenced our decision. We are using HardiShingles in our front gable, but that is the only "different" siding we are using on our custom build (bungalow/cottage style) home, 1636 sq. ft.

Hi Emily, thank you so much for your feedback. You prompted me to ask my builder/distributor and you’re right - lap is a cheaper material than b&b. It sounds like you’re building a similar/smaller home like me (hard to find inspiration pics that aren’t huge homes). I’d LOVE to see yours, if you’re comfortable. Thanks again for your input!

This is our lap siding. Yes our house is big but the siding still is same :)

@F N, I'm so glad I could be of help! Our house really isn't far enough along to provide any inspiration photos...we're just framing now. I have been posting photos as we've gone along on the monthly "Building a House" thread. Definitely look on Pinterest if you haven't already; I feel sure you can find some good inspiration there. Here is where we are so far (interior has been framed out since I took this).

Emily, how exciting! I’m in the same boat - very early (just got basement wall forms up yesterday to pour walls next week. I’ll definitely check your other thread!

@Fran Nichols, Just to clarify, it's not my thread... it's for anyone currently building a house. Come join !😊

In progress….

Our house is all lap siding. I think most people overdo it with too many exterior coverings. We plan to do a brick or limestone veneer on our porch apron once we get our steps poured. So I guess we will have two. But I think all board and batten would be lovely. Would love to see your front elevation sketch!

K H, here’s the elevation sketch with all board & batten. I’m now considering lap on the lower half and b&b on the gables to mix it up a little (and save some $). I just played around with the sketch on my phone to see what that might look like. Also can’t decide on black or white fascia. Choices, choices! I do not want stone veneer, so it does seem most homes have more than one single siding application when you factor in the stone/brick accents.

What a cute house. Here is a house all B&B and here is one with lap siding mixed with it. I personally like the all board and batten.

Here are a few more. On the little white house it would look good without the stone. But show the lap with the board and batten.

@F N, I like the lap siding with B&B in the gable. As I mentioned below, we are doing lap with shingle-style in the gable. Could also have done B&B in the gable. I like that look. We will also have stone facing on the foundation, but very little foundation shows on the front of our house due to the flatness of our lot. A bit more will show in the back and one side.

@F N your sketch shows one of the tough things about board and batten… The window grouping to the left of the front door as we are looking at it.. That grouping isn't centered in the batten strips. And, the window to the right of the door isn’t either.

If you do it, make sure your contractor tries to adjust for all of that as able.

@doc5md, That's one of the reasons we decided against B&B, ultimately. We weren't sure if the subs would get everything aligned properly, and the throw in a standing seam roof with its own lines, and I can see it being a mess optically unless the subs were super attuned to symmetry and spacing.

@Emily Exactly! People keep asking us why the siding is taking a long time to do… Its because of all of that planning time!

doc5md - wow, never would have thought about that. I imagine it’s impossible to always get the battens spaced exactly centered with various window sizes and set spacing between each batten. I just checked my current 62-year-old house with b&b and they’re not centered under the windows either. I would have never noticed.

@F N saw your other post and love your second inspiration photo. You should follow that color scheme and siding combo. I think it would be very appealing on your home! This one!

K H, thanks! My husband likes the black fascia, but I can’t decide.

@F N Beyond centering the battens on the windows, they are also figuring out whether it makes sense to center the board, or the batten, on each gable with respect to the windows so that you don't end up with a half a batten strip going up along the window trim, etc.

Here's where I've landed. Can't decide if I should paint the window/garage trim black as well. Husband thinks black, but I kind of like them white/less busy. Siding goes up next week.

@F N, I think that looks great, and I would stick with the white trim, as you mention. Right now the black trim is very "in", but like most trendy choices, it will look dated before too long, and everyone will be saying "look at that white house with black trim, that's SO 2020/2021!" White is classic and won't go out of style.

Black may work on the window sash but not on any other element of the facade.

I like what you ended up with. I would leave the trim white. I looks very pretty!