Friends,
This website is intended to be a library of useful information for home owners and builders. We will add updates as we are able, and arrange them in categories, such as masonry or roofing.
We are providing copies of professional reports, news articles, manufacturer’s specifications and other items we feel are reliable. However, don’t take our word for it! Some items, such as the Masonry Veneer Manufacturers’ Association Guide are very sound, but if you are using Owens Corning veneer, that company may have their own installation instructions that differ from the MVMA manual.
So use this site as a starting point, not the definitive source for how to do anything in the construction world. Conduct some research.
Some items are links, such as to the Department of Interior Preservation Briefs. The links have the benefit of being updated from time to time and also point you in the direction of an authority with information this site doesn’t include.
We are always happy to hear from you, get your suggestions or answer a question.
This site has grown out of my decade plus of programs on public radio. The Wisconsin Idea was promulgated by President Van Hise in a 1905 speech. Basically he said he wanted the boundaries of the university to be the boundaries of the state. Public radio has allowed me, a UW grad along with about everyone in my family, to participate in the Wisconsin Idea.
John Freiburger