Building with Moonwood

Holz100's exclusive use of moonwood brings incredible natural benefits to any building

This was another event in the life of Dr. Thoma that made him start questioning modern methods of problem solving. Since the properties of wood saved his children from suffering, he thought that there might be a demand for traditional woodworking. He decided to open a woodworking shop, with an idea that wood might also help other people. He asked his grandfather to be his advisor. And this is how, in the 80’s, they started their business - one that would run completely contrary to the modern trends of civilization. Initially, most of their orders were for flooring. Unfortunately, these floors were often installed in new buildings, where there was still a lot of moisture in the concrete. As a result, the wood would swell with time, and the parquets would expand and contract.

Again, it was his grandfather who came up with a solution. He mentioned how we should only and solely use wood that was harvested at its best. What does it mean, though? The idea is to only harvest wood when the sap levels are its lowest in winter, but most importantly, to do it solely during the waning moon.

“Grandfather”, Dr. Thoma replied.  “I studied forestry engineering in Vienna with the best professors. If such knowledge existed, I would have heard about it a long time ago.” Still, his grandfather remained stubborn. “I've been doing this all my life, you should try it, too” - he said. Dr. Thoma was still skeptical; however, he decided to harvest the next batch of timber in January, during the waning moon.

His timber was set aside in one pile while lumberjacks continued to work on a new pile of timber, despite the fact that the moon had already entered a different phase. The timber they cut at this time was set aside in another pile at the neighbor's. Because of the snow, the wood could not be transported, so they had to wait until spring. Once the snow melted, Mr. Thoma went to fetch the wood. The first thing he did was to check for woodworms, and it turned out that there were no signs of pests on it.

​Out of curiosity, he checked the other pile of wood at the neighbor's and found that it was completely infested with woodworms! This was the third time that Dr. Thoma reveled in the fact that there was more knowledge to be learned about wood than what he had learned at the university. As he continued to work with wood, he began conducting his own research and took notes. It turned out that this “moonwood”, as he called it, was more resistant to fungus, and especially to blue stain fungi. It dried faster and was more resistant to fire. And, most of all, it was harder and stronger, with no tendency to swell when exposed to moisture.

Today, Dr. Thoma builds homes everywhere including the tropics next to termite mounds, where everything is usually eaten by insects except Holz100 homes. As he claims, there has never been any problems with woodworms or fungi.