BUILDINGS THAT AGE WELL

Once I took my mother-in-law, a surgeon, to tour some of our houses. As we headed home she said, " You know, I've spent my life working my fingers to the bone to help and save people. But all the work I've done will soon be gone. What you do is lasting. It remains here forever." I wish she were right. I didn't have the heart to tell her that most houses built in this country may barely out-live their mortgage. Some of her patients will last longer.

Her words were important, however. We who build leave something behind. And the life of our buildings should be measured in centuries, not decades. We have a wonderful opportunity, but a powerful responsibility as well.

Stewart Brand, the author of "How Buildings Learn" says that the only buildings that last are buildings that are loved. These are the buildings that are maintained and carefully re-adapted over time as the needs of the occupants change. If we make buildings that are easy to maintain, operate, and change, they stand a better chance of being loved. In our company, we have committed ourselves to not letting go of our buildings. We remain connected to the buildings and the people that own them - we have now maintained, altered, and renovated some of our buildings for a quarter of a century. We learn from our buildings every day.

Aside from using a variety of advanced design and construction approaches and low maintenance materials and techniques, there are several unique tools we use to encourage buildings to live a long life.

All new cars have Owners Manuals. Why don't houses? Some commercial buildings are equipped with Owners' Manuals, but very few houses. But houses are complex. They're more subtle than a car, and have a longer life. Shouldn't all the operating and maintenance instructions be collected? When you buy a house, shouldn't its documented history be a part of its contents? We think so. In addition to Owners' Manuals, we've developed a second important tool, which we call a "Roughing Book". It's a series of photos of all walls and ceilings, keyed to a set of plans, taken before walls and ceilings are closed in. This gives us x-ray vision into the walls and ceilings, forever. The longer a building endures the more valuable these tools become, as memories fade and alterations and repairs become necessary. We make both of these for every building we make. It's one of the most important things we do. For more, see the Fine Home Building article, "Making an Owner's Manual".

Let's talk about durability. If our buildings are not designed to last at least 250-300 years, we're not asking the right questions. Our industry is making buildings designed to last the life of a mortgage - they should last at least as long as ten. What do we need to do to get there? Not much - primarily a shift in perception. To think long term we have to put quality first. Quality first means up-front expenditure (and, by the way, immense long term savings). But as long as our cultural values remain as they are, there is the danger that our approach, which requires more up front expenditure, marginalizes us. We are willing to fly in the face of that danger.

But it takes more than a shift in perception to make buildings that work. It requires learning over time through experimentation, patient observation, dogged perseverance, and attention to detail. The following are examples of how to make buildings that work and last.

We use salvage lumber for upwards of 80% of our interior and exterior finish work. Most of the remaining is certified. Over the years we have become very specific in our uses. We buy for specific uses and we design for salvage availability. All exterior trim is salvage cypress. By the time it is mined from river bottoms, dried, shipped, and milled, it is expensive. But we install it and apply no finish, and it will literally last forever. No maintenance, absolutely durable, and it weathers to a beautiful silver gray. Unbeatable. (On Martha's Vineyard painted trim must be re-painted every 2-5 years - that's expensive). We build most of our exterior doors, and for the last decade or so they have been made from salvage redwood, most of which comes from dismantled wine and beer vats. Why redwood? Vertical grain redwood is the most dimensionally stable wood we know of, and there is a decent supply of high quality salvage redwood. A 12" wide piece of redwood will change dimension by only 3/64 of an inch if you change the moisture content by 5%. Mahogany, teak, and vertical grain fir, the only readily available woods that come anywhere close, have roughly twice the dimensional change of redwood. What's different about exterior doors from most other woodwork? They are subjected to both interior and exterior weather and temperature. So the most important criteria for us are dimensional stability and durability without maintenance. Our redwood doors, again, need zero maintenance.

Let's be even more specific and talk about wood door thresholds. Wood thresholds must be tough, stable, and must be able to stand the ravages of foot traffic and weather without a finish (no finish will last). Wood door thresholds are commonly made out of oak. It twists, it cups, it cracks, and it rots. We have tried several woods besides oak - cypress and fir - but they're not tough enough. Only two woods we know of have the characteristics needed - tough, stable, and durable without finish: mahogany and teak. Teak is extraordinarily expensive. Mahogany fits the bill. So we buy - once every several years - a small quantity of 10/4 certified mahogany - and it gets used only for that specific purpose. It does its job well. It's the details that count.