Installing vinyl board and batten on my ranch house. Have reached the gable side of the house which is taller than the 10 foot B & B panel. I want to continue the B & B all the way up to the gable with a horizontal piece going across the house to make the bottom of the triangle. What is used to do that horizontal piece and should the siding at the upper level stick out beyond the siding on the lower level or does that horizontal piece act like a drip line out over the lower level of B & B. I am working with a carpenter friend/handyman and he wants to be sure he does it the right way since this is a first for him. Too dark to take a pic now, but I can add one later if needed. Thanks. Kathy

I love both board & batten as well as shakes. I tend to not like a lot of shakes unless the house is shingle style. Around here it is pretty common to have shakes on the part that is bumped out, like an accent. I guess I like option 2 the best, as long as it won't look to busy. Here a photo of a house that has board &batten, stone and shakes. I like this one a lot.

livingreen2013- I don't think there are any special problems with B&B siding, as with any installation, it's all about materials, preparation, installation and maintenance. I love B&B, but it is a very specific and casual look. We considered it for our house, but decided we wanted the eye to be drawn to the horizontal, so went with that. We also considered using cedar fish scale or this great, funky wavy siding in certain places, but to be brutally honest, we didn't have the $$, so went with plain Hardiboard. Your home is much larger, so I think you could go busier and add some interest without it seeming too busy. I also think the windows on the back don't meld well with the rest of the house, but YMMV. Here is a pic of our house, not dissimilar to yours (albeit a lot smaller and no attached garage). I would not be afraid to go bold with color too, I think a strong color or strong contrast between windows, trim and house would look great on your house, but I love color, again, YMMV. Good luck- sandyponder Main entrance Back Main entrance

Are you guys referring to the exterior window trim having some sort of wood or insulation under it in order for the window casing to stick out more than the siding? we have wood siding which we plan on keeping. We aren thinking of using pvc trim amd having it painted. Can we install pvc exterior trim without a new construction installation?