Find even spacing for decorative wall battens or individual slats. Enter your layout width and the actual face width of one strip. Choose a batten count or a preferred clear gap to get a layout, centre lines and marking positions.
How to use the batten spacing calculator
- Measure the width of the wall section you want to cover. Measure the actual visible face of one batten.
- Select the edge layout. You can place a batten at each boundary, leave equal gaps everywhere, or enter separate left and right margins.
- Enter a preferred clear gap or the exact total number of battens. Count the two end battens when using the flush-edge layout.
- Optionally enter the finished length of each vertical piece to calculate the total installed length.
- Select Calculate spacing. Check the sketch, compare nearby counts and use the position table to mark the wall from one reference edge.
Use inches, feet, millimetres, centimetres or metres. All length fields use the same selected unit. Enter decimals with a point or comma, without fractions or thousands separators. For example, enter 2½ inches as 2.5 in and 8 ft 6 in as 8.5 ft or 102 in. Changing units converts existing lengths. Recalculate after editing an input.
What does the result tell me?
The result shows the total batten count, the open gap between strips and their centre-to-centre spacing. It also gives the edge margins and the left side, centre line and right side of every batten. The sketch uses your horizontal dimensions, while its height is illustrative.
A clear gap is the empty space between two neighbouring battens. Centre-to-centre spacing is that gap plus one batten face width. These are different measurements. If the clear gap is 30 cm and the batten is 5 cm wide, the centre spacing is 35 cm.
The preferred-gap mode chooses the feasible whole count whose calculated gap is closest to your request. When two options are equally close, it uses fewer battens. It can return a gap slightly larger or smaller than requested. Check the nearby-count table before choosing the look you prefer. If you need a firm maximum opening for another purpose, this decorative calculator is not a compliance tool.
Example: a 3 metre wall with eight battens
Suppose the layout width is 300 cm and each batten has an actual face width of 5 cm. You want eight battens, including one flush at each edge.
- Total batten width: 8 × 5 = 40 cm.
- Open width: 300 − 40 = 260 cm.
- Number of internal gaps: 8 − 1 = 7.
- Clear gap: 260 ÷ 7 = about 37.143 cm.
- Centre spacing: 37.143 + 5 = about 42.143 cm.
The first batten begins at 0 cm and its centre is at 2.5 cm. The second centre is about 44.643 cm from the same left boundary. The last batten begins at 295 cm and ends at 300 cm. The position table provides every intermediate mark.
If each vertical piece is 240 cm long, the installed vertical material is 8 × 2.4 = 19.2 metres. That is not a stock-board order: a board that is too short cannot make a full piece, and cutting consumes material. Load example fills these values so you can inspect the layout.
How to calculate equal batten spacing
Use W for the full layout width, B for one batten's actual face width, and N for the total number of battens. Use the same unit throughout. The empty width must remain positive after subtracting the battens.
A batten flush at both edges
Clear gap = (W − N × B) ÷ (N − 1).
There are N − 1 open spaces between N battens. Both end battens are already part of N, and there are no open margins outside them. This layout needs at least two battens.
Equal gaps between battens and at both edges
Clear gap = (W − N × B) ÷ (N + 1).
There are N − 1 internal gaps plus two edge gaps. Every gap has the same width, so the whole arrangement is centred. One batten is allowed in this mode. With one batten, the two calculated gaps are the side margins and there is no centre-to-centre spacing.
Custom left and right edge gaps
Clear gap = (W − left margin − right margin − N × B) ÷ (N − 1).
The two margins stay at the values you enter. Only the internal gaps are equal. This mode needs at least two battens. Unequal margins make the run asymmetric relative to the full layout width. Setting both margins to zero gives the same geometry as the flush-edge mode.
Marking every batten
Pitch = B + clear gap. The left side of batten i is at left margin + (i − 1) × pitch. Its centre is another B ÷ 2 along, and its right side is another B along. Here, i starts at 1. In the equal-edge-gap mode, the left margin equals the calculated gap.
How do I choose a good gap for a feature wall?
There is no single gap that suits every wall. Narrow strips with small spaces create a slatted appearance. Wider open spaces make individual battens more prominent. Try two or three whole counts and compare them with the wall, nearby furniture and existing trim.
Use removable tape to test the strip positions before attaching anything. Include the actual strip width rather than marking only thin centre lines. Check the view from the doorway and from the main seating position. Your chosen gap is a design preference, not a structural or acoustic specification.
Should I use the wall width or the clear space between trim?
Use the boundaries of the layout you actually want to mark. For a full wall, this may be corner to corner. For a feature section, it may be the space between existing trims. The table's zero point is always the left boundary of that chosen width.
If existing side trims sit outside your measured clear section, do not count them again as battens. If you use custom margins measured from the full wall boundaries, include those margins in the total width. Do not subtract them from the width and also enter them as margins, which would deduct them twice.
Check the width near the top, middle and bottom. This model assumes a straight rectangular run and equal strip widths. Uneven corners, bowed walls and strips of varying width may require a fitted end piece or a revised layout. Measure finished pieces and check the final fit on the wall.
What about sockets, windows, doors and radiators?
Sketch these before choosing the count. The calculator does not detect clashes with sockets, switches, window trim, doors or radiators. An attractive equal-spacing layout can still put a batten in an unusable position.
Move the layout boundaries, change the count or split the project into separate clear runs when needed. Independent runs may have different gaps, so check the whole wall visually. Do not subtract a door's area from the width: this tool places vertical strips along a horizontal run, not material by square metre.
Raised Panelling's measuring guidance recommends recording each wall and including openings, sockets, switches and existing mouldings on the sketch. Its product-specific fitting allowances belong to its own system; they are not automatically deducted here.
Can it tell me how many lengths of timber to buy?
It reports the number of installed vertical pieces. If you enter a finished piece length, it also multiplies that length by the count. It does not divide the total metres by a stock-board length, because that can understate the purchase when offcuts cannot make another full-height piece.
Plan the actual cuts using the lengths sold by your supplier. Allow for trimming damaged ends, saw kerf, defects and any repair pieces you want to keep. Count top and bottom rails, backing sheets, corner trims, adhesive and fixings separately. If the battens sit between rails, the optional height field should be their finished clear length, not the overall panel height.
Does it work for ready-made acoustic slat panels?
Use this calculator for individual decorative battens whose spacing you can choose. Ready-made panels have a fixed slat arrangement, backing and joint detail. Calculate their purchase from the manufacturer's installed panel coverage and edge instructions.
For example, WoodUpp's Akupanel installation guide specifies how adjacent panels meet and how to treat the last panel. Do not replace those details with a newly calculated decorative gap. This calculator does not predict sound absorption or select fixings, and it is not intended for fencing, railings, structural supports or exterior cladding.
Plan the rest of the room
Use the paint calculator to estimate wall paint, the gallery wall calculator for picture spacing, or the flooring calculator for floor packs and underlay.
Manufacturer references
See Raised Panelling's measuring guide and WoodUpp's Akupanel installation guide for their own systems. Follow the current instructions for the materials you use. The article photo is an illustration; use your calculated diagram and real measurements for marking.
