If you're re-siding a full house anywhere from downtown Bellingham to Ferndale, Lynden, or out toward Birch Bay, horizontal lap siding is usually the safer default. It's built to shed water downward in overlapping courses, which matters on a coastline that sees wind-driven rain pushed sideways off Bellingham Bay and the Strait for days at a stretch. Board and batten earns its keep in a different role: gable accents, entry surrounds, dormers, and the modern-farmhouse look that's become common on newer builds in Lynden and Ferndale. It can absolutely serve as full-house cladding too, but it demands more disciplined detailing, a real rainscreen gap and careful sealing at every batten, to perform as well as lap siding does here with less fuss. Neither material is wrong for Whatcom County; the right pick depends on the wall's exposure, the look you want, and how much upkeep you're willing to do.
Lap siding, horizontal boards installed with each course overlapping the one below, is the siding most Whatcom homes have worn for decades, and for good reason. The overlap is a simple, proven way to shed rain before it reaches the sheathing, which is exactly what a wall facing Bellingham Bay or the open water toward Blaine and Birch Bay needs. Fiber cement lap is the most common choice we install today because it holds paint well, resists the wood rot that plagues cedar lap left unmaintained through a wet Whatcom winter, and doesn't cup or check the way older solid-wood lap can. Engineered wood and vinyl lap are also available, each with its own tradeoffs in stiffness, paintability, and how they hold up to impact.
The honest drawbacks: lap siding's horizontal ledges are where moss and algae like to establish themselves, especially on north-facing walls shaded by cedars or under a deep roof overhang where the surface never fully dries out. It needs periodic washing to stay clean, and the butt joints where courses end need to be caulked and maintained, a failed joint is a small leak path that can go unnoticed for a season. None of that is unique to this region, but our rain totals and slow-drying, low-sun exposures make the maintenance cycle a bit tighter than it would be somewhere drier.
Board and batten runs wide vertical boards with narrower battens covering the seams between them, giving a strong linear look that reads as farmhouse, craftsman, or modern depending on the trim around it. It's become a popular choice for gable ends, porch surrounds, and accent walls on new construction in Lynden and Ferndale, and it works well in those roles. Vertical boards also don't offer the same flat, shaded ledges that horizontal lap does, so on some walls it can be somewhat less prone to the moss buildup you see on shaded lap siding, though it's not immune, particularly where a downspout or roof valley dumps extra water onto one section.
The real tradeoff is at the seams. Every batten covers a joint, and every one of those joints needs a drainage gap behind it, a proper rainscreen furring strip, not just boards nailed flat to the weather barrier, or water that gets behind a batten in a hard, wind-driven rain has nowhere to go and starts working on the sheathing. That's a bigger deal here than in a dry climate: persistent rain plus wind off the water means water finds its way behind cladding more often, and without an air gap to drain and dry, that's how wood rot starts, usually low on the wall or under a window where water collects. Battens also rely on caulk and sealant at end grain and fastener heads, and up in the foothills around Deming, Glacier, and Kendall, freeze-thaw cycles through the winter can work that caulk loose faster than on the flatter, milder valley floor. None of this rules board and batten out, it just means it rewards a contractor who details the rainscreen and flashing correctly the first time.
Here's how the two stack up on the factors that matter most for a Whatcom County exterior. Treat the cost figures as rough planning ranges, not quotes, actual pricing depends on the substrate, trim complexity, and how much of the old siding and any hidden rot has to come off first.
| Lap Siding | Board and Batten | |
|---|---|---|
| Installed cost | Moderate; fewer linear feet of trim and fewer seams to detail keeps labor lower | Often somewhat higher per square foot due to the batten strips, extra fasteners, and the rainscreen detailing a wet climate calls for |
| Lifespan here | Long-lived when caulked joints and paint or finish are kept up; fiber cement lap commonly outlasts the original finish by decades | Comparable material lifespan, but performance depends more on the rainscreen and seal quality, done right it lasts, done poorly the seams fail first |
| Maintenance | Periodic wash to control moss and algae on shaded courses; recaulk butt joints and repaint or refinish on a normal cycle | Similar washing needs, plus more linear feet of caulked seam and fastener heads to inspect after freeze-thaw winters |
| Appearance | Traditional, classic Pacific Northwest look; blends into established neighborhoods in Bellingham and Ferndale | Farmhouse or modern character; strong choice for accents, gables, and newer builds in Lynden and around the county |
For a full re-side on a house exposed to weather off Bellingham Bay, the Strait, or open water toward Blaine and Birch Bay, we lean toward lap siding as the primary field material. Its overlapping courses are simply a more forgiving system when wind is driving rain sideways into a wall for hours, and it asks less of the installation crew to perform well, the physics of the overlap does a lot of the work. We still install plenty of board and batten in this county, and it looks right at home on the gable ends and porch details of the newer farmhouse-style builds going up in Lynden and Ferndale, or as an accent against lap siding on a Bellingham remodel. When we do run it as full-wall cladding, especially on a home out toward Birch Bay or Sudden Valley that takes wind straight off the water, we treat the rainscreen gap and batten flashing as non-negotiable, not optional upgrades.
The Washington State Energy Code also enters the decision, because most Whatcom re-sides today add continuous exterior insulation to meet current wall assembly requirements. That insulation layer changes the furring detail either siding sits on, and it's worth having whoever specs your project confirm the wall assembly meets code before boards go up, it's easier to get the strapping and insulation thickness right the first time than to pull siding back off later. Alpine Exteriors handles both lap and board and batten installs across Whatcom County, and we'll walk your specific walls, sun exposure, tree cover, which direction the weather hits, before recommending one over the other rather than defaulting to whichever is easier to install.
Yes, if it's covering more than a small accent area. A drainage gap behind the battens lets any water that gets past a seam drip down and dry out instead of sitting against the sheathing, which matters given how much rain Whatcom County gets and how long walls can stay damp under our cloud cover. Skipping it to save cost is one of the more common causes of hidden rot we find behind older board and batten walls.
Both need occasional washing, but lap siding's horizontal ledges on shaded, north-facing walls tend to hold onto moisture and grow moss faster than the mostly vertical run of board and batten. Neither is maintenance-free, a wall under heavy tree cover in Sudden Valley or along a shaded lot near the islands will need attention regardless of which siding is on it.
Yes, and it's a common approach, lap siding as the primary field material with board and batten on gables, a dormer, or a porch surround for visual contrast. The main thing to get right is the transition detail where the two meet, so water sheds properly across the change in material rather than pooling at the joint.
Not directly, the code governs the wall assembly's insulation and air sealing, not which cladding sits on top. But the furring and continuous insulation most Whatcom re-sides now include to meet current code requirements does affect how either siding is attached, so it needs to be planned alongside the siding choice rather than after the fact.
If you're weighing lap siding against board and batten for a home in Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, Birch Bay, Sudden Valley, or out toward the islands, Alpine Exteriors can walk your property and tell you honestly which one fits, and where a mix of both makes sense. We're licensed in Washington under contractor license ALPINI751OW. Reach out for a walk-through and a written estimate before you commit either way.