Board and Batten: A better siding alternative

By Jenny Yu.  

Learn about Central States Manufacturing’s popular new metal cladding product that boasts durability, longer life cycles and classic aesthetics. 

In an episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Megan Ellsworth sat down with Melissa Dunson, director of marketing at Central States Manufacturing and Chris Morris, Stonegate CEO and Sherwin Williams’ MetalVue partner, to discuss the trend to integrate siding services in one’s roofing business, particularly the growing popularity and demand for metal siding in commercial and residential buildings.  

“Really when you look at metal, you're able to replicate the look, the feel, the architectural styles that emulate a traditional siding, i.e. wood, but give you a maintenance cycle that folks have grown accustomed to,” Chris offered.  

Metal’s durability and longer life cycle have been popular in commercial siding for some time, but its rise in the residential market is of note. Homeowners are becoming more concerned with protecting their homes with materials that are durable and fire-resilient and are willing to pay more for them. 

Enter Central States’ Board and Batten exterior cladding system with hidden fasteners: a contemporary metal siding option with comparable appeal and pricing to wood panels.  

“A lot of metal siding in the past has looked like metal panels, and that works for certain styles of homes, but one of the beautiful things and the reason that our Board and Batten has really become so popular is it really does look like a vinyl or a fiber cement or a wood, Melissa shared. “It's vertical, which is beautiful, with completely hidden fasteners, which is very different than a lot of the metal siding that's been out there.” 

Introduced just last year, Central States’ Board and Batten has already reached great heights, so much so that the company is now selling it nationwide to meet customer demand. 

“The reason customers like it so much is they are the most popular on the market, S&P, Sherwin Williams, beautiful, durable colors, but then there's also textured versions that can look like all kinds of things,” Melissa said. “And then my favorite is, because of advancements in technology, companies are actually able to digitally print images onto steel coils, and they look so incredible. Non-repeating patterns for a really extensive length, and it looks like wood.” 

Melissa knows the difficulties of wood siding firsthand and can speak to the benefits of Board and Batten’s new metal alternative from Central States. 

"As a person who used to have wood siding, it is like having another child that you have to take care of and make sure you take extra steps to protect it from pests. I had woodpeckers that pecked holes in it,” she shared. “Now, you get all of the benefit with really all of the durability and super low maintenance that you get with metal. I think that's why it's grown so fast, and I think it's the reason that this product is going to be so successful.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the podcast to learn more about the benefits of metal siding and Central States’ Board and Batten exterior cladding product.