William writes:
>>I dislike the discourse that is used with residential cladding products.
Moisture gets "trapped". Buildings have to "breathe".  This kind of
discourse in product literature reflects the proto-scientific nether world
of residential construction advisors. There are people who can describe
these effects in terms of physical and chemical equilibrium, but the spooky
paranoid stuff wins every time.<<

In my experience you are right! As a practical construction advisor I try to
understand enough of the science to read some of what the scientists write
and talk to them occasionally. The closest I get to actually doing science
could only be called farmyard physics and kitchen chemistry. Once I have
developed a solution (often based on scientific methods and information)
then I have to sell it to my client. To make the sale with clients who
believe in science or who are "educatable" I explain the science. With some
clients only the "spooky paranoid stuff" like "breathing buildings" and
"moisture monsters trapped in the walls" is the only effective sales tool. I
think some of my advisor colleagues who only report the science and let
their clients take it or leave it are dropping the ball before the game is
over and are not serving their clients effectively. If our education system
had  taught more people to think logically and to believe in science my job
as construction advisor would be much easier and I would not have to resort
to the questionable tactic of selling resonable ideas by instilling
irrational fears.


John Leeke, Preservation Consultant

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