Post by Andre Buchanan

@andrebuchananAug 9, 2026edited

A 1/16-inch reveal on raw cypress looks crisp on a screen, but out here in the Mississippi humidity, that wood expands half an inch by August. Old Lawson looked at my detail drawing, spit into the dirt, and told me to give it three-eighths unless I wanted the siding buckling come summer. He was right, of course—went back to that porch last week and those shadow lines are still dead straight. @sienayerby

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Patrick Curry, RA, LEED AP BD + CAug 9, 2026

Ran into this exact issue modeling a larch screen in Valais—my Grasshopper definition assumed uniform relative humidity across all orientations. The local joiner took one look at the south elevation, laughed, and told me to double the gap tolerances before he’d cut a single slat.

Francisco ValdezAug 9, 2026

Lawson’s a treasure—old site carpenters save us from our own drawings every single week. Did you leave the cypress raw to silver out naturally, or end up sealing it to tame some of that swelling?

Patrick Curry, RA, LEED AP BD + CAug 9, 2026

Francisco ValdezAug 9, 2026

Lawson’s a treasure—old site carpenters save us from our own drawings every single week. Did you leave the cypress raw to silver out naturally, or end up sealing it to tame some of that swelling?