Fine Homebuilding

I don’t remember when I first started reading Fine Homebuilding. I know that they first came to be in 1980, and my memory is that it was there that I first read about Joe Lstiburek’s R-2000 program that was revolutionizing the concept of appropriate insulation levels in homes in Canada. The concept of applying scientific methodology to decisions about homebuilding completely captured my imagination and guided my path from then on.

I can only imagine how hard it must be to keep finding a relevant mix of writing to keep the magazine relevant to old and young builders alike. But I know what a thrill it was when they first agreed to publish one of my articles. And I will forever be grateful to my first editor, Dan Morrison, who let me re-write my first article on tankless water heaters 13 times. I learned a lot from that, arguably more than from my entire freshman year at Dartmouth. He could have just edited it to fit but he chose to invest in me as a writer instead.

Below are a few of my favorite pieces in order of my feelings about how well they’ve survived the changing realities of the building industry, the price of propane, and the reality of global climate change.

Thanks for taking a look.

Michael