Board and Batten Calculator

Work out the even batten spacing for a board and batten accent wall. Enter your wall width, the width of your battens, and how many you want. The spacing and a live preview update as you type, in inches or millimetres.

Batten spacing
Gap between battens432 mm

6 battens create 5 equal gaps across a 2400 mm wall.

Open this wall in the free planner

How to space battens evenly

The quick version: subtract the total width of all your battens from the wall width, then divide by the number of gaps. With a batten at each end of the wall, the number of gaps is one less than the number of battens.

For example, a 2400mm wall with six 40mm battens uses 240mm of batten, leaving 2160mm to share across five gaps. That gives an even gap of 432mm. Change any value above and the calculator redoes the maths and redraws the wall instantly.

Common wall widths

A quick reference using 40mm battens with one at each end. Your own batten width and count will change these numbers, so use the calculator for your exact wall.

Wall widthBattensEven gap
1800mm5400mm
2400mm6432mm
3000mm7453mm
3600mm8469mm

Board and batten spacing in inches

Switch the calculator to inches and it works the same way, showing results to the nearest sixteenth. You can type fractions straight into the fields, so 3 1/2 is understood as well as 3.5.

American boards are sold by nominal size, and a 1x4 is not four inches wide. After planing it measures 3 1/2 inches, and that planed face width is what the spacing maths needs. Tap a board size in the calculator and it fills in the actual width for you.

NominalActual face width
1x21 1/2 in
1x32 1/2 in
1x43 1/2 in
1x65 1/2 in
1x87 1/4 in

Around 20 inches is the spacing most board and batten accent walls land on, because it suits typical room widths without looking sparse. These use 1x4 battens with one at each end:

Wall widthBattensEven gap
10 ft (120 in)619 13/16 in
12 ft (144 in)719 15/16 in
14 ft (168 in)820 in
16 ft (192 in)920 1/16 in

Plan the whole wall

Spacing is the first step. To plan the full layout, add horizontal rails, work out heights, and get a cut list of every strip to take to the timber merchant, open your design in the free planner. It handles multiple rows, dado rails, and cost estimates.

Open the planner

Doing a grid instead of plain battens?

A grid accent wall is still board and batten: horizontal rails crossing the verticals, with the two sharing a batten where they meet rather than each square carrying its own frame. The spacing above is the same calculation, and the free planner draws the whole grid, adds a cap rail for a half-height wall, and gives you the cut list with the shared battens counted once.

Battens, slats, or panels?

Battens fix straight to a flat wall and share where they meet. If your design uses framed boxes instead, like shaker, picture frame, or wainscoting panels, the maths flips: you choose the gap and the calculator finds the panel width. Use the wall panel spacing calculator for those layouts. And if you are planning dozens of narrow strips set close together, the slat wall calculator solves the count from your target gap and estimates the sheets to rip them from. For panelling that stops at a chair rail on the lower wall, the wainscoting calculator adds the rail height to the same maths.

Add this calculator to your site

Free to embed on any blog or website. Paste this where you want it to appear. Keeping the credit link is appreciated and helps others find the tool.

<iframe src="https://www.wallpanelplanner.com/widget/batten-spacing" width="100%" height="620" style="border:0;max-width:480px" loading="lazy" title="Batten Spacing Calculator"></iframe>
<p>Batten spacing calculator by <a href="https://www.wallpanelplanner.com/tools/batten-spacing-calculator">Wall Panel Planner</a></p>

Frequently asked questions

How do you space battens evenly?

Take your wall width, subtract the combined width of all the battens, then divide by the number of gaps. With a batten at each end, the number of gaps is one less than the number of battens. The result is the even space to leave between each batten.

How many battens do I need for my wall?

It depends on the look you want. Wider gaps use fewer battens and suit larger walls, while a tighter, more traditional board and batten look uses more. Try a few counts in the calculator and watch the preview until the spacing looks right, then take the gap measurement to mark out your wall.

What width should the battens be?

Common board and batten battens are cut from MDF strips around 40 to 70mm wide, but there is no fixed rule. Thinner battens give a lighter, more modern grid, and wider battens read as more traditional. Enter whatever width you plan to buy and the calculator works out the spacing to match.

What is the formula for board and batten spacing?

Gap = (wall width - (number of battens x batten width)) / (number of battens - 1). The subtraction removes the timber, and dividing by one less than the batten count shares what is left across the gaps, because a batten at each end means there is always one fewer gap than batten.

How far apart should board and batten be?

Most board and batten accent walls end up somewhere between 16 and 24 inches apart, with around 20 inches the most common. Rather than forcing a round number, pick the batten count that gets you near that range and let the calculator give you the exact even gap, so the wall stays symmetrical.

What size boards are used for board and batten?

1x3 and 1x4 are the usual choices, with 1x2 for a lighter modern grid and 1x6 for a bolder farmhouse look. Remember that nominal sizes are not actual sizes: a 1x4 measures 3 1/2 inches across the face once planed. The calculator's board size buttons fill in the actual width for you.

Do the end battens sit at the very edge of the wall?

This calculator assumes a batten at each end of the wall, with equal gaps between them. That is the most common board and batten arrangement. If you would rather start with a gap at the edges, plan the full wall in the free planner where you can set edge gaps directly.

Related guides

Board and batten spacing guideHow much does wall panelling cost?