wrong, the hight of wood technology and understanding is behind us I have worked on many very old wooden buildings, dateing back to the mid 1700's and learned f

wrong, the hight of wood technology and understanding is behind us I have worked on many very old wooden buildings, dateing back to the mid 1700's and learned from the last carpenters and shipwrights, blacksmiths standing who carried those traditions, as things they learned as part of a greater whole. The understanding of how to keep structures dry, and also, how the inevitable condensation and leakage must be shed, is wraped up in tiny details, choices in wood species and specific grain orientations. If you are discussing, settler built homes, then the choices become based on pragmatism and litteral, life/death survival decisions, so things like, a stone fireplace, but @3' the chimney is chinked log or split wood, and I have seen wooden chimney foundations,made from truely massive, huen timbers, dovetailed together, 36" plus timbers,still supporting an in use kitchen apparatus, after 300 years. How is that possible?, simple, site selection, dry but not too dry, with a spring for a well close by, and if you dig into the details, there is plenty of history around choosing "dry wells" just for, basements and larders, non muddy spots for a house, etc. It is a mistake and a disservice to underestimate the sophistication of the many many, hidden details and the consious choices behind them, in our ancestors lives. seaweed, insulation, and "brushing" foundations every fall...... goes on and on