What do the contract documents and drawings (if applicable) say? Is there a trail documenting that the expectation was that batten placement would be a certain way? If not, any changes will probably be at your cost. If your contractor has completed the work to the terms of the contract, and there are no defects in materials or workmanship, you can't withhold money.

The reality is that some contractors are great technicians, but not designers. What you have going on would bug the crap out of me too, but here's the problem. Unless you provide a contractor with a set of drawings showing exactly what you're going for, or you discuss in advance of the estimate that you want things a certain way, the contractor is most likely going to bid the job with the least amount of wasted material possible. Otherwise he'll be $X higher than the next guy and if you don't ask for an explanation, he loses the bid.

I mean if you have six peaks they're fitting to, it's highly unlikely that everything will math out perfectly so as to minimize waste. Honestly your best bet is to approach the contractor, explain what the look is you actually want, and say "how can we get there given where we are now?"

@Ellsworth the OP can "insist" all he/she wants, if it's not in the contract the the contractor's under no obligation. We ran into a similar issue with a deck 6-7 years ago. Deck builder was a highly recommended local carpenter and the deck will probably outlive the house. Problem is, the carpenter didn't want to waste an inch of lumber (composite decking is crazy expensive) so instead of planning ahead and staggering seams, there was a huge spot filled with adjacent seams. Right in the main living space.

Carpenter balked at fixing, I talked to my lawyer who looked at the contract and said "you didn't put anything about aesthetics of board spacing in the contract, you said otherwise his workmanship is sound, you're hosed." Ended up paying for materials out of my pocket and the carpenter agreed to split the labor cost. I lost money on that job.

So, yeah, it was an expensive lesson. Some installers are artisans who catch every detail, and some are just nailbangers. The best way to ensure a result is a ton of documentation on the front side.

The install was not done correctly. It needs to be done right. The contractor should realize this as well. Yes they will have to order more material, but it should have never went up like that. How unfortunate.

Very helpful input so far. First, it's helpful to know that this type of work would bother others too. I don't want to be that guy that complains about every little thing, but I also don't want my house to look like I built it myself. Second, we do have a contract but it's worthless. The builder is an Amish outfit, and Amish generally have low regard and little interest in contracts since they do not sue on principal. Even if there were a real contract, there are certain assumptions I would think are reasonable to make---eg, my floors should be level, the ceiling heights of the room should be the same, the battens should actually look like someone cares, etc. There are just too many details to cover every little thing. The best I should hope for next time is to include a clause saying I only pay when I'm happy with the result.

I am leaning toward insisting that he make the front and back look right. Both are prime living areas and easily visible. I'll offer to let the sides go and will grit my teeth for a while when I look up.

I also need to add that there are many wonderful things about working with Amish crews. They are making some beautiful built in bookcases and benches and cubbies and even building our bathroom vanities. They have done a wonderful job thus far on those things. And I actually appreciate the ease of verbal agreements rather than constant change orders.It's just the crazy battens where they goofed.

i'd be furious. many carpenters do have an artistic soul, yours didnt. its not acceptable to me either.

here is an idea tho....do a solid top to the offending gables. cheaper than ripping it all off.

Two thoughts: If the battens cover seams in the panels, that is a functional thing and it would trump the aesthetics, IMHO. And, ask yourself if this will still bother you in 6 months. I really doubt if anyone is going to even think about it by then.

When we were building our house, no detail escaped my husband's notice. He was very upset at one point about a chipped brick near a door.. Now, 13 years later, he hasn't given it a thought and it would be trivial to even mention it. I'm sure your remodel will be beautiful, too.

I went over these type of details with my contractor BEFORE work commenced because it was important to me. In that conversation, I determined that my contractor was not skilled enough in math to accomplish this task, so I marked off the locations myself and used the contractor for the labor involved. I hope you can get this resolved to your satisfaction.

Nnigrt, That is an excellent idea. We didn't want any gable vents or decorations since we're trying to keep things as simple and "clean" as can be. But filling in that peak with something that looks like a triangular vent might help make the sloppy work less obvious. The question is whether I would want something like that on all the peaks or just the ones that are the worst. We still have a chance to do the front of the house right, so I may not need them there. Thank you for such a great idea. It would be wonderful to make this better without making the builder tear it down and re-do it all.

BeverlyFLA, Either the architect or the builder should have seen the trouble the battens would cause. On the remaining front parts of the house, I did what you did. I spent hours figuring out exactly where to put the battens and then marked them with blue painter's tape. In general, I would not do the vertical battens again. Unless the whole exterior (doors, windows, etc) are carefully placed with the battens in mind, you run into trouble eventually.

As I was scrolling through Houzz photos last night, I saw that this person had the same issue.

I will be honest, I am noted for being picky normally, but i have never noticed this issue. So maybe it is a non issue that most will not pick up on? It is true, now that you have mentioned it, i will be looking at all houses to see if they are that way. Darn, there goes the enjoyment of a trip out. I will also point out that most who have renovations or homes built have at least one thing that bugs them, so will keep my fingers crossed this is the worst.

In many classic board and batten houses the battens are not symmetrical, the board are often not even the same width. Board and batten isn't exactly the same as uniform width vertical siding. And if you want the same width board for each board, you may not be able to also have centering on each gable. Either the board width has to vary or the centering has to vary unless the house is completely symmetrical. A single width of board is a UNIT, like a tile is a unit.

As an example of something that is a standard width, that gets used on walls that are not a standard width, but vary:

If you have a 4.25" tile, the only way to have full tiles all across is to have everything be a multiple of 4.25: 8.5, 17, 21.25, 34, 42.5., etc. and the only way to have something centered on a peak would be to have it line up with a multiple of 4.25 or 2.125,

Were there drawings of the board and batten details? Was it called out in the drawings that they should be centered on the gables? Centering on the gables would also likely throw off the balance on each side. (Again, unless the house is completely symmetrical).

I keep thinking about your issue here. When you look at the entire side of the house, are the spacings even? If that visual is off, it would really bother me.

Alicejean . Yes. The battens are all 2 feet apart along the whole back of the house. The trouble came when they started 2 feet from the corner and marched across the house. Would have been better had they started in the peak of the gable and worked outward. The battens would not have ended exactly 2 feet from each corner but that that would be hard to tell since they are so far apart.

Are they two feet around the whole house? What would have happened if they were 1' __" apart across the back of the house to be both even and centered, or are the 2' battens on seams?

free other batten covers a scene between the panels underneath. To move the battens would require moving the panels. There is a center section of the front of the house where the battens will be smaller and 12 inches apart for some contrast.

in my picture it *seems* that only 2 of the 3 gables have the filler. so i guess i'd say no, you dont have to do them all that way.

I have looked at this picture several times over a couple of days and couldn't understand what everyone was talking about. I just saw it. I think it is the kind of thing that people won't notice unless you point it out.

Your color selection of contrast points up the variation. If the battens are painted the same color as the background it will be much less noticeable, as you can see in The Wilow, Custom Home you posted. I am a very symmetrical person, and I could easily live with that, thought it might take a little time to get used to. Best of luck!

After 3 phone calls the contractor called me back and we will meet just before they finish the siding on the front. He says that the existing walls where the vinyl siding was removed had some type of Styrofoam panel in Satin and they could only fix the Hardie panels to framing amidst the Styrofoam. That dictated where they could put the battens. On the new structure {the front} he says there is plywood covering the outside of the wall so they can fix the Hardie panels anywhere. Who knows if any of that is true.

I still think I will ask if we can make fake gable vents from Azek on the 3 most noticeable peaka to mask the asymmetry.

Uncentered would bother me, too. Seems nuts that any contractor worth his or her salt would do something unsymmetrical within a symmetrical roof. (Insert expletive!)

...and miedel, you are being very gracious in trying to work this out amicably. Nice suggestion from nngirt, too.