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Board and batten calculator: spacing, cut list and strips to buy

Enter the wall, the panel height and your strips to get the battens, the exact gap, their positions and the lengths to buy.

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Measure each room once. Every material on this page is planned from these measurements.

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Feet and inches: type 12' 6", 12 6 (= 12 ft 6 in) or 12.5 (decimal feet). Inches alone: 30".

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What this planner works out

For board-and-batten and shaker paneling, the planner counts the battens, works out the exact equal gap, lists where each batten goes, and turns battens, rails and cap into whole strip lengths to buy, for one wall or several rooms.

Picture-frame molding and full-cover boards (shiplap, tongue-and-groove, slats) on walls are counted too.

The result is a quantity and layout estimate from your own numbers. The paneling is decorative and non-structural: the strips are not a fixing for shelves or heavy items, and the planner says nothing about adhesives, wall types or fire lining.

What to measure

  • The wall or the runs. Without runs, the planner uses the walls of the room. For an exact layout, enter each stretch between corners and door or window frames as a run in step 1.
  • Panel height (floor to the top of the cap) and Baseboard height (skirting; 0 if there is none; not bought here).
  • Picture frames: the panel zone height (the band that holds the boxes, for example from the baseboard to a chair rail), the edge margin between the boxes and the edges of the zone, the boxes per wall and the gap between neighboring boxes.
  • Full-cover boards: the boarded height from the floor to the top of the boards, and the Baseboard height the boards sit on (0 if there is none).
  • From your strips: face width, stock length, price and, if you like, the saw kerf. Battens, rails and the cap can share one strip or each have their own.

The method

  1. Batten length: panel height − baseboard − bottom rail − top rail − cap.
  2. Bays: (wall width − batten width) ÷ (your gap + batten width), rounded to the nearest whole number (a half rounds up). There is one more batten than bays, with a batten at both ends.
  3. Exact gap: (wall width − battens × batten width) ÷ bays.
  4. Strip lengths: the larger of two figures, never rounded down. By total length: all lengths plus one saw cut per piece, plus your allowance, divided by the stock length. By the pieces: how many pieces of each length fit in one stock length, then the lengths those pieces need.

Worked example: one wall, 3.5 m

Panel height 1.2 m, baseboard 0.1 m, a 70 mm top rail, a 20 mm cap, 70 mm battens, a gap of about 450 mm, stock lengths of 2.4 m.

  • Batten length: 1.2 − 0.1 − 0.07 − 0.02 = 1.01 m
  • Bays: (3.5 − 0.07) ÷ (0.45 + 0.07) = 6.6, so 7 bays and 8 battens
  • Gap: (3.5 − 8 × 0.07) ÷ 7 = 0.42 m, 30 mm less than typed; centers at 0.035, 0.525, 1.015 … 3.465 m
  • Battens: 8 × 1.01 = 8.08 m; with 10%, 8.888 ÷ 2.4 = 3.7, so 4 lengths. Two pieces fit in one length: 8 ÷ 2 = 4 lengths, 0.712 m left over
  • Top rail and cap: 3.5 m each, so each needs a joint (the planner says so)

If battens and top rail are one strip, they are added before rounding: 11.58 m × 1.1 ÷ 2.4 = 5.3, so 6 lengths.

Worked example: a wall with a door

A 4.0 m wall with a door whose frame starts 0.6 m from the left corner and is 1.04 m wide. As runs: 0.6 m on the left gives 1 bay and 2 battens; 2.36 m on the right gives 4 bays and 5 battens with a gap of about 0.503 m (0.5025 m before rounding). That is 7 battens and 2.96 m of top rail. Without runs the 4.0 m wall gets 9 battens, two too many, with a warning.

Worked example: when the pieces decide

A 5.0 m wall paneled to 1.0 m above a 0.1 m baseboard, with a 50 mm top rail and 90 mm battens about 400 mm apart, gives 11 battens, each 0.85 m long. By total length, with no allowance, 9.35 m ÷ 2.4 m is 3.9, so 4 lengths. But only two 0.85 m pieces fit in a 2.4 m length, so the battens need 11 ÷ 2 = 6 lengths. With 2.7 m stock, three pieces fit and 4 lengths are enough. The planner shows both figures and a notice when the pieces decide.

Worked example: a shaker grid

A 2.5 m wall, 60 mm stiles, 4 bays: 5 stiles and a 0.55 m gap. Panel height 2.4 m, baseboard 0.1 m, 60 mm bottom and top rails: stiles of 2.18 m. Three rows put 2 rails in every bay, 8 rails of 0.55 m. With one strip for everything: 10.9 + 4.4 + 2.5 + 2.5 = 20.3 m, with 10% 22.33 m, ÷ 2.4 = 9.3, so 10 lengths.

Worked example: filler along the edges

For the one-wall example, both long edges of every piece give 2 × 8.08 + 2 × 7.0 = 30.16 m of bead. A 6 mm fillet uses 18 mL per meter: 542.88 mL, so 2 cartridges of 300 mL, still 2 with 10% extra.

The planner opens with an example in feet and inches: a 12 ft feature wall paneled to 54 in, 3 in battens about 14 in apart, gives 9 battens, 45 3/4 in long, with a 14 5/8 in gap, so 5 lengths of 8 ft for the battens and 3 lengths of 12 ft for the top rail and the ledge.

Limits

  • Not an optimized cutting plan. The cut list uses equal pieces only; offcuts are not matched across lengths.
  • Each wall on its own: an internal corner gets two battens.
  • Not covered: boards on ceilings or laid vertically, cutting plans across lengths, sloped ceilings and stairs, scribing to uneven floors, and exterior board-and-batten siding.

Check for hidden cables and pipes before you nail, screw or glue, and never move an electrical box yourself. Cutting and sanding MDF makes fine dust: use dust extraction and a suitable mask, and follow the dust guidance for your country. To paint the paneling and the wall above it, tick Keep my projects on this device (or download a backup), then use Open project in the room refresh planner (or restore the backup there) and add paint for the same rooms.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the gap not exactly the one I typed?

Because the battens are spaced evenly with one at each end of the wall. The planner picks the number of bays whose equal gap comes closest to yours and shows the difference, so the last bay is never a sliver. If you want a set number of bays instead, choose This number of bays per wall.

What about doors and windows?

Without runs, the planner lays the battens over the full width of every wall and says that doors are not positioned, so the count is usually a few battens too high. Enter the stretches between corners and door or window frames as runs in step 1: each run gets its own equal gap with a batten flush with each end, and the rails stop at the frames. Under a window, give the run the sill height.

Two walls meet in a corner. Is the corner batten counted twice?

Yes. Each wall is counted on its own, so an internal corner gets one batten on each wall. If you will butt them or use a single corner piece, you can subtract one batten per corner from your own order.

Can I plan the caulk or filler for the joints?

Yes. In step 2, open Plan other materials, then the Sealant and filler group, and choose Along the panelling for the room. It counts both long edges of every piece, then whole cartridges from your bead size and cartridge volume.

Does it plan picture-frame paneling?

Yes. Choose Picture-frame molding (boxes), then the zone height, the edge margin, the boxes per wall and the gap between them. Each box is two pieces of its width and two of its height; pieces of one size are cut from whole lengths and two sizes never share a length, so three boxes of 0.867 × 0.6 m on a 3 m wall need 5 lengths of 2.4 m, not the 4 that 8.8 m ÷ 2.4 m suggests.

Can it count shiplap or tongue-and-groove boards?

Yes, on walls: choose Full-cover boards. Rows = boarded height ÷ the cover width of one board (enter it as the face width), rounded up; each row runs the width of the wall or run. Add your allowance and the lengths per pack: a 3.6 × 2.4 m wall with 120 mm cover and 2.4 m boards is 20 rows, 72 m, 79.2 m with 10%, 33 boards, 6 packs of 6. Ceilings are not covered.

Does it count coving or crown molding as well?

Yes. In step 2, open Plan other materials, then the Coving group, so a wall can have both paneling and coving. Each wall or typed run is cut into equal pieces from whole lengths; pieces of the same length share lengths, and different lengths never share offcuts. An L-shaped room of 5 × 4 m with a 2 × 1.5 m corner cut out, 2 m lengths and mitered corners with a 100 mm projection onto the ceiling needs 12 lengths, because the two walls at the outside corner each get the projection added. With corner pieces instead it needs 11 lengths, plus 5 inside and 1 outside corner pieces. Coving adhesive and the filler for both edges follow the coving length.

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