Vertical vinyl siding is sometimes called barn siding or board and batten siding. The board is a wider plank while the batten is a thinner strip. Battens project forward and hide the seams between the battens. If the siding has no battens, then it’s described as vertical vinyl.
1. Towering Vertical Vinyl
Mixing the heights and textures in your home can add style and visual interest. In this house. Most of the facades are lined with clapboard siding, but the vertical vinyl siding in the turret makes it look even taller. That height is further exaggerated by the long windows, the conical tower roof, and the curvy vertical ovals windows in the front doors. And it’s all done in grey.
2. Vertical Vinyl on Brick
Vertical vinyl siding can look neat and professional. But only if it’s done well. With those clean rising lines, a shaky hand can make the whole effect look ramshackle. And the slightest shift in symmetry can be visually distressing, as you see here. The vertical vinyl is a recent addition – you can tell by the square windows. The lower brick story has curves and arches.
3. Monochrome Magic
To the uninitiated, grey seems like a dull, boring color. But you can play with hues and shades to create a rainbow of gradients and neutrals. You can then use shape and line to separate the sections of the home. For this house, the ground floor is dark grey clapboard and stone. The upper floor has cedar shingles, with vertical vinyl siding over the dormers.
4. Fabulous Farmhouse
Barn siding can feel traditional and old-fashioned. But there are ways to give it a modern touch. This farmhouse is styled in muted grey rather than the standard barnyard red. And although vertical vinyl siding covers most of the front façade, the vertical lines are tempered with arched windows and pitched roofing. Natural light is a key guiding element.
5. Linear Loveliness
Vertical vinyl siding comes in hundred colors, but your HoA (or maybe your partner in palette selection) may prefer to stay with safer shades. Or maybe your local store has a limited range of hues and tones. So when you’re restricted to a single shade of grey, just change the direction of the siding. Use board and batten siding under the exterior rafters.
6. Lengthen the Line
Adding a layer of vinyl is a quick, affordable way to refurbish an old home. And you don’t have to leave the house to do it – exterior siding can be installed without the residents moving out! This house has a brick basement. The vertical vinyl siding makes the house seem taller by pulling your eyes upward. The narrow door and hung windows also lift your eye line.
7. Last-Minute Look
The advantage of building a modular home is you can keep adding bits and bobs. But the downside is uniformity. You might not find the exact same shade or cut of siding – maybe it’s no longer in stock! That could be what makes this house look so new and yet so cluttered. The vertical vinyl siding seems to be the latest addition, and it does seem a little awkward.
8. Style and Simplicity
Sometimes, you have to balance the practical and the aesthetic. The outside of your house is way more visible to neighbors, so you may want to show it off. But you’ll spend more time inside so you may choose to splurge on the interior that only you will enjoy. For this family, functionality won, so they opted for cheaper exterior vertical vinyl siding and a fancier roof.
9. Marshal Vinyl Remodel
Once again, this might be a factor of budget or sentimentality, but this house seems to be divided into two distinct eras. The older part of the house has vertical vinyl siding that calls back to the off-shite wood paneling in small-town dust bowl houses. The newer front section has modern-looking shingles. But the uniform window styling brings the house together.
10. Beautiful Bentley Building
Shipping container houses are popular for their low cost and creative couture. Those odd angles and high ceilings leave with endless décor options, so these houses are beloved by the quirky and creative. But container homes need heavy insulation to make them livable. This house has vertical vinyl siding on all its exteriors and the large windows capture solar power.
11. Ten Points to Gryffindor?
Despite the seeming homage, this Blacksburg home traces back to 1897, way before Harry or any of his housemates. The house burnt down and was restored using the same style but modern materials, so a lot of the siding is vinyl. The main wall siding is a mix of wavy scallops and horizontal clapboard but the basement has vertical vinyl siding with red trim.
12. Family Fun House
In cities, houses intended for a single resident are sometimes occupied by tightly packed families. But in semi-urban farming towns or college communities, a grand country house might still be shared by several families. In this house, the tower that might be a joint staircase or corridor is marked with vertical vinyl. The rest of the house has clapboard siding.
13. Upgraded Barn Siding
Here’s another barn that’s been brought into the 21st century. The owner was fed up with the time and expense of maintaining his wooden walls so he replaced them with vertical vinyl siding. These board and battens exteriors need minimal attention – just hose them down at high pressure and if an area needs special attention, a soft brush and mild soap will do.
14. Board, Batten, and Vertical Shutters
If you’ve wondered what to call those doors that cover windows … they’re called shutters. Because they … shut your windows. And this was essential in the olden days when windows had no glass. But in this modern home, the vertical faux-wood shutters flanking the hung windows are a realistic detail. The walls behind the window are done in vertical vinyl siding.
15. Verticals and Brick Walls
Once you’ve mounted printed siding on your walls, it can be tough to tell what’s real and what’s faux. On this house, the walls are finished with board and batten siding but the basement section isn’t done yet. You can see brick on the older sections of the house, so brick-pattern siding would be a cool exterior finish for that exposed concrete basement.
16. Window Work and Battens
You can’t always redo your house as much as you’d like. Or as fast. Especially with tight budgets. So when you’re looking for the cheapest, most drastic refurbishment, opt for windows and siding. In this house, upgrading the exterior with vertical vinyl siding gives you a whole new home. The windows have been updated too, with rustic vertical vinyl shutters.
17. Renovation Candidate
Are you looking for an old property to flip? Or maybe you want a community project you can support? Here’s an image for inspiration. This old lodge has dilapidated board and batten exteriors. The faded paint on those weather-beaten walls would take forever to sand and restore. Yet in a single day, you can replace them with vertical vinyl siding in the same hue.
18. Cute Cedar Accents
The exterior design on this house is deceptively simple, with its ivory scheme and its vertical vinyl siding. The black trim heightens the white theme and the pitched roof offers tradition and minimalism. But to give the house a subtle flair, gorgeous cedar columns dot the front porch and seem to ‘hold up’ the veranda. Those pillars are a beacon for cat markings though.
19. Sustainable Character
When you’re upgrading a historic structure, you may want to stay true to its character. This old Ontario building has a dramatic brick front that would be ruined if you added modern trappings. So the siding that flanks it is done in a matte slate grey that’s muted enough not to detract from the retro brick. The vertical vinyl siding takes its tone cues from the grey doors.
20. Little Red Doors
People who use white vinyl siding on their homes are often simple and subtle in their tastes. They like the minimal look – nothing too fancy or flashy. But if you happen to have a wild side under that homely exterior, you can add a splash of rouge as a hat-tip to your inner passion. In this house, the cute red doors nestled amid that vertical vinyl siding are a treat.
21. Black and White on Gray
What makes a farmhouse modern? Amenities probably – like piped water, heating systems, and electricity. Larger windows and skylights can brighten a dark barn and open up the farmhouse interiors which can sometimes feel stuffy and cramped. And on the outside? Forget the unfinished look of hand-sawn wood. Opt for vertical vinyl siding with black trim.
22. Reversed Vinyl Lines
We’ve seen a lot of houses where the walls had horizontal vinyl while the A-line under the rafters was done vertically. In this house, the order is reversed. The section above the ceiling has cedar shingles that create a horizontal pathway for your eyes, while the lower walls are vertical vinyl siding. But the exterior window shutters have horizontal detail for contrast.
23. Slim Isn’t In
Ordinarily, thin vertical stripes are slimming. But this house alternates wide vinyl boards with thinner battens. They widen the floor space which is unfortunately limited. But to avoid making the house look squat and stubby, the vertically hung windows are longer and narrower than you’d find in typical farmhouses. It creates the illusion of vertical height.
24. Rustic Touches
You might worry about vinyl boards and battens. They seem rather modern and could spoil that old-school charm of your cottage-style home. This house has vertical vinyl siding on the walls, but for the back door steps (and the basement walls), stacked stone and a traditional lantern help the homeowner retain the village-like character of this cozy not-so-little house.
25. Bolded Boards and Battens
The function of battens in board and batten siding is to neatly hide the seam. So they’re generally slim and subtle. But if you’re going for a bold, visual effect, you can choose wider boards and thicker battens, as seen in this house. That upward-leading line heads to the roofing shingles, which then draw your eyes sideways. It’s an attractive design motif.
26. So Cut Soffit
Soffits are exterior ceiling sections that are frequently neglected. They acquire a lot of damage from pests and weather because the wood rots easily and makes a convenient entry point for birds and wild rodents. So in this house, the soffit is upgraded from timber to vinyl, with aluminum accents. And the exterior walls are also redone in vertical vinyl siding.
27. Verticals and Horizontals
It isn’t always easy to decide whether your siding should be vertical or horizontal. And the shortcut is to use a bit of both, as we see in this house here. Horizontal siding comes in a wider range of styles though. You can get Dutch lap, with its ridges and shadows. Or clapboard, with its flat profile, vertical vinyl siding can only be beaded or board and batten.
28. Black Accented Vinyl
When you’re building a house for sale, it’s easy to default to white paint. The residents can later customize it as they wish. You can’t paint over vinyl though – you’d have to replace it, which is simple enough. But to allow buyers to map their own character onto this home, it’s done in white vertical vinyl with black accents on the door, window trim, and light fixtures.
29. Colourful Ply Gem Siding
As we mentioned, horizontal vinyl siding comes in several styles that include clapboard, Dutch lap, beaded, shingle, shake, and log. With vertical vinyl siding, your main option is board and batten, though you can also get vertical panels in faux-log or beaded styles. So if you want to spice up your vertical siding strips, consider mixing colors as you see here.
30. Bright Blue Boards and Battens
Not everyone is drawn to neutrals and pastels. If you’d like a vivid, inviting shade on the outside of your house, consider installing this vertical vinyl siding. It’s a bold tone that won’t show dust and dirt as easily as lighter shades, though, with vinyl, that’s not an issue because it’s so easy to clean. And because vinyl is impervious to weather and termites, it’s perfect!
31. Kaycan Board and Batten
In homes with pitched roofing, the gables mark a boundary between your vinyl siding. Often, the siding above the ceiling line is perpendicular to the siding below it. But in this Kaycan home, the vertical vinyl siding extends above and below the line, including the dormers. Slim faux-wood shutters flank the windows, which alternate vertical hung styles with muntins.
32. Low Maintenance Screened Porch
Your porch or veranda can offer additional entertainment space that can boost your home’s square footage. But between the eaves and overhangs, rain and melted snow can drip down your exterior walls, leaving unsightly stains and triggers for rot. So this screened porch has been upgraded with waterproof vertical vinyl siding that can better withstand the weather.
33. Beaded Vertical Siding
We’re down to the finish line, so if you’re not impressed by all those boards and battens, try a little beading instead. In this style of vertical vinyl siding, the ‘beaded edges’ replace the battens by covering up the seams between panels. This vinyl only comes in three colors, but it can be insulated, and it comes in doubles so you’ll see two beaded edges between panels.
What’s your favorite vertical vinyl siding? Show us some siding photos in the comments!