Ask the Builder: Building with wood? Here’s how to prevent rot

The inspiration for this column came to me one Sunday morning as I was greeting people at our church, where my wife and I are ushers. In between people dashing through the door to avoid the drops of rain falling from the steel-gray clouds, I looked across the street. A project at a multifamily building was finally completed.

The final job was to erect a new sign near the sidewalk. This sign was covered by a simple roof structure that was anchored to the ground with two rough-sawn 8x8s. They were either oak or cedar.