When we visited Finland fifteen years ago, we fell in love with their legacy of heritage and contemporary shingle buildings and became fascinated with how they finished them. There was and is a tradition of making pine tar (by cooking wood in giant, covered in-ground fires and draining out the tar) for waterproofing which we saw demonstrated in old-time museums, but is still a popular and ubiquitous waterproofing there. It is environmentally responsible, it’s very durable and requires minimal maintenance with one coat applied right away, and another five to ten years later, when it permanently bonds to the wood. When we returned to Canada, we found out sadly that it was not available here. But we were patient, and my partner was ever hopeful. Fifteen years later Chris discovered that someone has started to import pine tar stains from Sweden. We ordered bright green, practiced using it, and then showed the contractor how to apply it. It was unfamiliar, smelled like your head was in a tar smoker, took a
all images this page: PLANT
Petäjävesi Old Church was built, in pine, between 1763 and 1765, the bell tower in 1821. It was been restored several times since the 1920s and was approved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a typical of an eastern Scandinavian wooden church tradition.
few days to cure, but the finish is bright and sharp, naturally bringing out the variation in the wood. This was the first ‘grass green’ colour I have seen that is actually so close to the green grass that the building feels like it is merging with the landscape. The colour is bright – loud, but somehow quiet at the same time.
35
on site review 48 :: building materials
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator