Preserve Montana held a Traditional Joinery and Wood Repair Workshop at the Baxendale Schoolhouse Preservation Center on Saturday, May 2, giving participants practical skills for tackling one of the most common problems in historic building maintenance: deteriorating wood.

Tickets were priced at $65 to $75 — a relatively accessible entry point for homeowners and tradespeople looking to learn. The class opened with an overview of how wood deteriorates and how to identify rot, then moved into hands-on repair techniques appropriate for historic structures. Participants learned how to inspect wood, assess damage, and choose the right repair approach — including when to consolidate, patch, or replace.

Helena has no shortage of older buildings that need exactly this kind of attention. From the South Side to the Walking Mall's historic commercial blocks, the city's building stock includes structures well over a century old, many of them maintained by owners who are doing the work themselves or hiring local contractors without formal preservation training.

The workshop at Baxendale is part of Preserve Montana's broader effort to build preservation capacity in the state — equipping the people who actually touch these buildings with the skills to do the work right. A follow-up Historic Preservation Principles Workshop is scheduled for June 2 at the same location.