A batten is most commonly a strip of solid material, historically wood but can also be of plastic,

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typica ...

, or fiberglass. Battens are variously used in construction, sailing, and other fields. In the lighting industry, battens refer to linear light fittings. In the steel industry, battens used as furring may also be referred to as "top hats", in reference to the profile of the metal.

Roofing

''Roofing battens'' or ''battening'', also called ''roofing lath'', are used to provide the fixing point for roofing materials such as shingles or tiles. The spacing of the battens on the trusses or

rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associate ...

s depend on the type of roofing material and are applied horizontally like purlins. Battens are also used in metal roofing to secure the sheets called a ''batten-seam roof'' and are covered with a ''batten roll joint''. Some roofs may use a grid of battens in both directions, known as a ''counter-batten system'', which improves ventilation. Roofing battens are most commonly made of wood or metal, but can be made of other materials.

Wall battens

''Wall battens'' like roofing battens are used to fix

siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch ...

materials such as tile or shingles.

Rainscreen A rainscreen is an exterior wall detail where the siding (wall cladding) stands off from the moisture- resistant surface of an air/water barrier applied to the sheathing to create a capillary break and to allow drainage and evaporation. The ''ra ...

construction uses battens (furring) as part of a system which allows walls to dry out more quickly than normal.

Board-and-batten

Takayama Old Town (Sanmachi Suji) (35819349621)

''Board-and-batten''

is an exterior treatment of vertical boards with battens covering the seams. Board-and-batten roofing is a type of

board roof A board roof or boarded roof is a roofing method of using boards as the weather barrier on a roof. Board roofs can be applied in several ways, the basic types have the boards installed vertically and installed horizontally. ''Double board roofs'' ...

with battens covering the gaps between boards on a roof as the roofing material. Board-and-batten is also a synonym for single-wall construction, a method of building with vertical, structural boards, the seams sometimes covered with battens.

Spacers

Battens may be used as spacers, sometimes called furring, to raise the surface of a material. In flooring the sometimes large battens support the finish flooring in a similar manner to a

joist A joist is a horizontal structural member used in framing to span an open space, often between beams that subsequently transfer loads to vertical members. When incorporated into a floor framing system, joists serve to provide stiffness to the su ...

but with the batten resting on a solid sub-floor as a ''

floating floor A floating floor is a floor that does not need to be nailed or glued to the subfloor. The term floating floor refers to the installation method, but is often used synonymously with laminate flooring. It is applied now to other coverings such as ...

'' and sometimes cushioned.

Trim

''Batten trim'' or ''batten molding'' is a thin strip of trim typically with a rectangular cross-section similar to lath used in lattice, used to cover seams between panels of exterior siding or interior paneling.

Flooring

In flooring a batten may be relatively large, up to thick by wide and more than long.

Batten doors

door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

construction battens may be used to strengthen panels made up of multiple boards, as in a batten door, or to cover joins.

Wall insulation

Battens are used for solid wall insulation. Regularly spaced battens are fitted to the wall, the spaces between them filled with insulation, and plasterboard or drywall screwed to the battens. This method is no longer the most popular, as rigid insulation sheets give better insulation (with battens bridging the insulation) and take less time to fit.

Screed batten

In concrete work a ''screed batten'' is fixed to the

formwork Formwork is molds into which concrete or similar materials are either precast or cast-in-place. In the context of concrete construction, the falsework supports the shuttering molds. In specialty applications formwork may be permanently i ...

to smoothly guide a

screed Screed has three meanings in building construction: # A flat board (screed board, floating screed) or a purpose-made aluminium tool used to smooth and to "true" materials like concrete, stucco and plaster after they have been placed on a surface ...

smoothing tool.

Lighting

In the lighting industry, battens refer to linear fittings, commonly LED strips or using fluorescent tubes. Batten luminaires are typically cheap and meant to be fixed directly to structural battens in loft spaces or to ceilings and soffits in back-of-house areas where aesthetic value is not required. Fluorescent fittings may include a low-specification diffuser cover, or simply have the fluorescent tube exposed.

Sailing

In sailing, battens are long, narrow and flexible inserts used in sails, to improve their qualities as airfoils.

References

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