Mass Timber Moisture Management

As we enjoy these last days of summer, it is time to start thinking about moisture management in mass timber buildings, especially here in the PNW where it rains almost continually for over half the year. I can't tell you the number of times I have heard "Well just don't frame in the winter!", an obviously impossible condition to put on projects which have so many other factors contributing to schedule decisions. Let's face it, your mass timber will likely be exposed to rain. So how should you deal with it?

There are some great resources out there, and one I have found useful is RDH Building Science's Moisture Risk Management Strategies for Mass Timber Buildings Version guideline (https://www.rdh.com/resource/moisture-risk-management-strategies-for-mass-timber-buildings-v2/). It is critical to plan for rain, try to avoid getting the wood wet if you can, and know how to dry the building out if you can't.

You can see in the photo that on The Canyons at Kaiser + Path, we taped our seams and then monitored the moisture on a regular basis as the building dried out so that we knew we weren't trapping excess water under our topping slab. The wood still got wet, but this way we avoided long term damage to the building.

#masstimber #sustainabledesign #moisturecontrol #rainyseason

Me doing the glamorous work of moisture monitoring on The Canyons!