Burlington Guemes Island sits just off Anacortes, reachable only by ferry, and that isolation shapes more about a home's exterior than most owners expect. Island homes here face a tighter combination of conditions than most mainland Skagit County lots: salt-laden air moving straight off the water, wind exposure with fewer windbreaks on many lots, driving rain that comes in sideways during storm fronts, and a moss season that runs long wherever tree cover keeps a wall shaded and damp. Board and batten siding is a popular choice on the island — it reads as a clean, vertical, farmhouse-modern look that suits a lot of Guemes Island homes — but it only performs well here if it's specified and installed with those conditions in mind from the start.
Why Board and Batten Suits Guemes Island Homes
Board and batten is a vertical siding profile: wide flat panels or boards installed first, with narrower battens covering each seam. It reads differently than horizontal lap siding — more vertical, more textured, often paired with simpler trim — and it's a look a lot of island and rural Skagit County homeowners are drawn to for exactly that reason. It also has a practical advantage in a wet, wind-exposed setting: vertical seams shed water straight down the wall face rather than collecting along a horizontal lap edge, which matters on a wall that's taking driving rain head-on.
That said, board and batten isn't automatically lower-maintenance than lap siding just because of its vertical orientation. The battens themselves create dozens of additional seams and fastening points across a wall, and every one of those seams is a place where water can get behind the cladding if the joint isn't detailed correctly. On a mainland lot with some tree cover and a house lot away from open water, a mediocre batten joint might go unnoticed for years. On a wind-exposed Guemes Island wall facing open water, the same shortcut gets tested a lot harder, a lot sooner.
What "Correct" Looks Like on This Profile
A properly built board and batten wall depends on getting the water-resistive barrier and drainage plane right underneath the boards, not just on the boards and battens themselves. Battens need consistent reveal spacing, fasteners have to land in the right substrate at the right pattern for the specific Hardie panel or board being used, and every batten has to allow for the slight expansion and contraction a fiber cement product goes through across a Skagit County wet season without cracking a seam or working a fastener loose.
What Salt Air and Island Wind Do to Exterior Siding
Homes on Guemes Island sit closer to open salt water than most of the mainland communities we work in, and that has a real, measurable effect on exterior materials. Salt-laden air corrodes exposed fasteners and hardware faster than it does further inland, and it accelerates the breakdown of lower-grade paint finishes that aren't built to handle sustained salt exposure. Combine that with wind that isn't broken up by the tree cover or terrain many mainland lots have, and you get wall faces that take rain at a steeper, more direct angle than a comparable house set back from the water.
Moss is the other constant. Shaded, tree-lined sections of the island hold moisture against a north- or east-facing wall long after a storm passes, and that dampness doesn't just sit on the surface — it works into any joint or seam that wasn't sealed correctly the first time. A board and batten wall with a weak batten joint in a shaded, moss-prone spot is exactly the kind of failure point that takes a couple of years to show up and then shows up as rot behind the cladding rather than a simple cosmetic issue.
Why Ferry Access Changes How a Job Should Run
Guemes Island is ferry-served, which means material staging and crew scheduling can't be treated the same way as a mainland job. Every panel, batten, fastener, and flashing component has to be counted, ordered, and loaded correctly before the ferry run, because a missed item doesn't mean a quick supply-house trip — it means a delay measured in ferry schedules, not minutes. A crew that already works the island builds that into its planning as a matter of course; a crew doing its first island job is learning that lesson on the homeowner's timeline.
Why We Install Only James Hardie Fiber Cement
We install one siding product, on every job, island or mainland: James Hardie fiber cement. We don't offer vinyl, LP SmartSide, Cemplank, Allura, primed spruce, or cedar, and that's a deliberate standard, not a limited catalog. Each of those alternatives does something well — vinyl is inexpensive, engineered wood products install quickly, cedar has real natural character — but each carries a trade-off that matters more on an exposed, salt-air, wind-driven site like Guemes Island than it might somewhere calmer.
Vinyl board and batten profiles exist, but vinyl grows brittle with age and temperature swings, and the extra seams a batten profile creates are exactly the places wind-driven rain and salt exposure work hardest. Wood-based board and batten, whether engineered wood or true cedar, has an organic core that depends on flawless field priming and sealing at every single cut edge and batten joint to keep sustained moisture out indefinitely — a hard standard to hold across an entire wall on an island where the crew is fighting wind and a ferry schedule at the same time. Cedar in particular asks for real ongoing upkeep — refinishing, sealing, moss treatment — to keep performing in a climate that doesn't offer much of a dry season to recover in between storms.
Fiber cement handles the core problem differently because it isn't organic. There's no wood substrate for trapped moisture to rot, and it doesn't feed moss and mildew growth the way wood-based siding can. James Hardie builds climate-engineered HZ product lines around sustained moisture and coastal exposure specifically, rather than one generic formulation sold everywhere in the country, and its factory-applied ColorPlus finish is baked on under controlled conditions instead of painted on-site — which matters a great deal on a wall taking direct salt air and sun.
How We Approach a Board and Batten Project on Guemes Island
- On-site assessment of wall orientation, wind exposure, tree cover, and existing moisture or rot damage before any material is ordered
- Full material takeoff and ferry-run logistics planned up front, so the job isn't waiting on a missed part mid-install
- Removal of existing siding and inspection of sheathing and framing for hidden water damage, common on older island homes
- Water-resistive barrier and flashing installed correctly at every window, door, and penetration before the first board goes up
- Board and batten installed to Hardie's fastening and reveal specifications, adjusted wall-by-wall for sun, shade, and wind exposure
- Final trim, caulking, and touch-up matched to the factory ColorPlus finish
Comparing Siding Approaches for an Island Home
| Factor | Generic Mainland Approach | Guemes Island-Specific Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Material choice | Whatever's common or cheapest, regardless of exposure | James Hardie HZ lines engineered for salt air and sustained moisture |
| Batten joint detailing | Standard spacing and sealing regardless of wall orientation | Adjusted per wall for wind-driven rain and direct water exposure |
| Fastener and hardware choice | Standard fasteners without salt-corrosion consideration | Selected and spaced to resist salt-air corrosion over time |
| Logistics | Order-as-needed, mid-project supply runs | Full takeoff and ferry scheduling planned before work starts |
| Moss and shade exposure | Not factored into joint or finish choices | Considered wall-by-wall based on tree cover and sun exposure |
Cost Factors for a Guemes Island Siding Project
We don't publish blanket pricing, because on an island job the honest number depends on specifics that vary from house to house. The factors that move a project up or down, though, are consistent enough to be worth laying out plainly.
| Factor | How It Affects Cost |
|---|---|
| Existing wall condition | Hidden rot or water damage found at tear-off adds repair scope before new siding goes up |
| Ferry and staging logistics | Material has to be fully accounted for and scheduled around ferry runs, which affects project timeline more than it affects a base price, but delays add cost |
| Batten spacing and trim detail | Board and batten generally runs higher than plain lap siding due to the added batten material and labor |
| Wall exposure and orientation | Walls facing open water or prevailing wind may need additional flashing and sealing detail |
| Access and site conditions | Tree cover, slope, and tight lot access can affect staging and labor time |
What to Look for When Hiring for Island Work
Not every siding contractor is set up to do island work well, and it's worth asking direct questions before hiring one for a Guemes Island project.
- Ask whether the crew has worked on the island before and how they plan ferry logistics and material staging
- Ask what siding product they install and why — a contractor who installs several different products has less incentive to steer you toward the one built for your actual exposure
- Ask how they detail batten joints and flashing on wind-exposed, water-facing walls specifically, not just in general terms
- Ask how they handle a discovery of hidden rot or moisture damage once old siding comes off
- Ask for a clear, written scope before work starts, including how weather delays and ferry scheduling are handled
Signs Your Current Siding Needs Attention
A few things are worth checking before they turn into a larger repair, especially on an island home that's harder to get a crew out to on short notice.
Soft or spongy spots when pressed, especially near the base of walls or around window and door trim, usually mean moisture has already gotten behind the cladding. Persistent moss or dark staining on shaded walls signals sustained dampness that's likely affecting the material underneath, not just the surface. Cracked, lifting, or separated batten joints are a direct sign that a seam has failed and is letting water in behind the wall. Peeling or chalking paint on older wood-based siding is a sign the finish has stopped protecting the substrate underneath it.
Ready to Talk Through Your Home
If you're weighing a board and batten look for a Guemes Island home, we're glad to walk the property, look at wall orientation and existing condition, and talk through what correct installation looks like for your specific site. Reach out for a free, no-pressure estimate — there's a short form below to get started.