Building a firewood shed and wanted to go with the board and batten look. Used to be a cypress dealer around for reasonable but found out he's no longer around. Local sawmill has 1x10 hemlock for very reasonable but it's green. I know board and batten was created by using green lumber but curious if anyone has experience with installing it green and dos and donts as far as nailing pattern. I also have access to a kiln but obviously more money. I will put it in a kiln if installing green will cause more headaches than it's worth. Just looking for thoughts from people with experience. Do they shrink and crack that much? Would air drying for a while help?

I have used locust for it and installed that green.. I left 3/8'' between the boards and put 2'' wide battons on . It still looks good after ten years. The locust did not crack. I had it milled and went right to work. This is the shed I built that way. Also made 5/8'' thick shingles from the locust and nailed them on wet and tight. They move all the time but the roof doesn't leak a drop. They were nailed to purlins with no plywood decking like they used to be made. Ended up moving the shed - boy was it heavy built this way . It held up great.

Stack and stick with a minimum of 1 inch sticks ,you want max air flow ,let air dry as long as you can hold out , just two to three months and you will will make a big difference. The dryer it gets the harder it is to nail.

You can air dry softwood lumber in about three months, sticker it good and make sure it has good air flow.

Paneling Sales in Gordonville, Lancaster County sells Cypress lumber. Amish company with good prices.

Nail it on straight off the mill. Make sure the bark side is out and butt them tight. Use one nail in the center on each purlin. Put the battens on bark side in. Nail in the center with one nail on each purlin. When they warp they will warp towards each other and stay tight on the edges.