Bozeman Builders Science

Ian White
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Bozeman Builder’s Science is a podcast about how buildings work, why problems develop, and how we can make better decisions when solving them. Hosted by Ian White, the show explores building science, indoor air quality, moisture, ventilation, radon, mold, and the many ways a building can affect the people who live and work inside it. The goal is to translate complicated technical information into practical understanding that homeowners, contractors, real estate professionals, and curious listeners can actually use. Through honest conversations with experienced professionals, we’ll dig into real projects, difficult problems, industry misconceptions, lessons learned, and the mistakes that help us improve. This is not about pretending to have every answer. It is about staying curious, asking better questions, improving communication and craftsmanship, and helping people make more informed decisions about their homes and buildings. Some conversations will be simple and approachable. Others will go deep into the technical details. In every episode, the goal is the same: to make building science easier to understand and create conversations that help move the industry forward.

Episodes

  1. Sep 5

    Ep. 3: Josh Lee - Bighorn Customs

    In this episode, I sit down with general contractor Josh Lee to talk about what actually goes into building a home, and why building the same type of house repeatedly is a very different process from building a one off custom home. Josh builds both spec homes and custom homes throughout the Gallatin Valley, which gives us a chance to compare repetition versus customization without reducing the conversation to good homes versus bad homes. We talk about how repetition can create efficiency and improve quality, why custom homes require a completely different decision making process, and how the cost of a project changes the way time, labor, materials, and mistakes have to be managed. From there, the conversation gets into a much bigger part of construction that homeowners rarely see: bidding accurately enough to stand behind your work, hiring specialized subcontractors, learning through mistakes, setting expectations, dealing with warranty issues, and knowing when something is an actual quality problem versus simply a preference. Josh also shares his approach to integrity in construction, including why making mistakes is inevitable, why fixing them matters more than pretending they never happen, and why he thinks experience is really about paying down your “knowledge debt.” Toward the end, we flip the conversation around and look at the process from the homeowner’s side: what to pay attention to when buying a home, why a good home inspection still matters, what to ask when choosing a contractor, and why the relationship with your builder may matter more than simply choosing the lowest price. This one covers a lot of ground, but the thread running through all of it is pretty simple: Good construction is not just about knowing how to build something. It is about understanding the process, learning from repetition, communicating clearly, and being willing to stand behind the decisions you make. Intro/Outro "Nice Try" by Michael Ramir C. Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: TAADTNJ78ZVLF8CJ, 3KPUCYRRHBNQYOVL

  2. Sep 5

    Ep. 2: BBS - Radon Deep Dive

    Ep. 2 - BBS - Radon Deep Dive Radon is one of those things a lot of homeowners know they are supposed to care about without ever really understanding why. It comes from the ground. It is radioactive. You test for it. And if the number is high, somebody shows up, drills a hole in the floor, adds a pipe and a fan, and somehow that is supposed to solve the problem. In this episode, Ian breaks down what is actually happening underneath that simple explanation. We look at where radon comes from, why Montana has strong radon potential, how radon affects the body, why two nearly identical homes can have dramatically different results, and how pressure differences inside a house can pull soil gas indoors. Then we get into how mitigation actually works: not by simply “sucking radon out of the house,” but by changing the pressure relationship beneath the building and giving soil gas a better path outdoors. Along the way, Ian explains why foundation type matters without determining the result, why radon systems have to be designed around the individual home, and why testing before and after mitigation is so important. The goal is not to turn you into a radon professional. It is to make the pipe and fan finally make sense. Intro/Outro - "Nice Try" by Michael Ramir C. Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: TAADTNJ78ZVLF8CJ, 3KPUCYRRHBNQYOVL

  3. Sep 5

    Ep. 1: Mike Schann - Deep Dive on Mold

    In this episode, I sit down with Mike Schaan for a deep dive into mold, moisture, and the challenges of diagnosing problems inside the built environment. Mike brings roughly thirty years of experience working with buildings affected by water, mold, fire, and smoke. We talk about what mold growth can tell us about a building, why identifying the source of moisture matters more than simply treating what is visible, and how professionals use experience, testing, and diagnostic tools to better understand what is happening. We also explore the limitations of mold testing, the importance of context when interpreting results, and why these problems are rarely as simple as collecting a sample and receiving a laboratory report. The goal of this conversation is not to create fear around mold. It is to help homeowners, contractors, and other professionals better understand how mold problems develop, how they should be investigated, and what it takes to find a lasting solution. If this episode helps you better understand your home or your work, please share it with someone else who could benefit from hearing it. Intro/Outro - "Nice Try" by Michael Ramir C.

  4. Aug 13

    Ep. 0: BBS - Pilot Episode

    Pilot Episode: Your House Is a SystemWhy does one solution work perfectly in one house and fail in another? Why can two seemingly identical homes have completely different problems? And why is the answer to so many building-science questions, frustratingly, “it depends”? In this pilot episode of the Bozeman Builder Science Podcast, I explain why I started the show, how I think about buildings, and what I hope we can accomplish here. I’ve never been very good at simply being told what the answer is. I want to understand why it works. Because once you understand the system behind something, you don’t have to memorize a scripted answer. You can understand the individual pieces, how they interact, and start making better decisions when the situation inevitably doesn’t fit the textbook example. That idea is really the foundation of this podcast. We’ll talk about building science, radon, mold, moisture, ventilation, indoor air quality, construction, and plenty of subjects I probably don’t even know enough to ask good questions about yet. I’ll also sit down with people who understand individual pieces of those systems far better than I ever will. My job isn’t to pretend I know everything. It’s to ask questions, dig into the reasoning, and translate technical information into something useful for homeowners, contractors, real-estate professionals, and anybody else who is curious about why buildings behave the way they do. Because your house isn’t a collection of unrelated parts. It’s a system. And the better we understand that system, the better questions we can ask and the better decisions we can make. Intro/Outro - "Nice Try" by Michael Ramir C.

  • 4 Episodes

About

Bozeman Builder’s Science is a podcast about how buildings work, why problems develop, and how we can make better decisions when solving them. Hosted by Ian White, the show explores building science, indoor air quality, moisture, ventilation, radon, mold, and the many ways a building can affect the people who live and work inside it. The goal is to translate complicated technical information into practical understanding that homeowners, contractors, real estate professionals, and curious listeners can actually use. Through honest conversations with experienced professionals, we’ll dig into real projects, difficult problems, industry misconceptions, lessons learned, and the mistakes that help us improve. This is not about pretending to have every answer. It is about staying curious, asking better questions, improving communication and craftsmanship, and helping people make more informed decisions about their homes and buildings. Some conversations will be simple and approachable. Others will go deep into the technical details. In every episode, the goal is the same: to make building science easier to understand and create conversations that help move the industry forward.

Information

  • Creator
    Ian White
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Ian White
  • Show Website
    Bozeman Builders Science