Green Wood

Hardwood Forest

Yesterday, while the sun was pushing the temperature above 70 degrees outside, I spent the whole day in the windowless lecture halls of the Minneapolis Convention Center learning all there is to know about forests, wood and best construction practices.  I learned that there are three biomes that make up Minnesota’s forests, that butyl based peel and stick flashing works better than asphalt based ones, that aspen trees need clear cutting to regenerate properly and that the Austrian workers who install KLH cross-laminated timber walls are precision maniacs.  But the best thing I learned all day was a piece of advice provided by the water management guru as he was describing proper methodology for lapping building paper behind the siding on a house.  After showing one failure after another, with mold splotches and rot in every picture he turned to us and said “never tuck your raincoat in your underwear.”  Now that’s a piece of advice I can live by.