The Log Home Industry Expert

Guest Author: Perma-Chink Systems 

Taking care of log homes is a bit like caring for your car.  You would never consider driving your car for years without changing the oil or ever washing it.  Your home too needs an occasional wash, inspection and maintenance.  It is easier and better to inspect a clean home than one that’s dirty.  Besides, a clean log home looks great.  It’s amazing how a few months worth of pollen, dust and dirt can hide the beauty of your log home finish.  And like a car, giving it a cleaning every once and awhile helps extend the life of the entire finish system.

At Perma-Chink, we recommend cleaning your home twice a year, in the spring and the fall.  But you need to be careful with what you use to clean your home.  Many household cleaning products have a high pH.  This means that they are alkaline or caustic and these types of products can harm your finish, even if it’s in good shape.  For maintenance cleaning avoid using products that contain bleach or ammonia.  Both can have a detrimental effect on your finish.  Products that are slightly acidic like our Log Wash are much better to use since they are gentle on the finish but are extremely efficient cleaners.

The Inspection
Once your home is clean it’s time to do your inspection.  Start at one corner of the home and be sure to go all the way around.  Inspect each wall individually and don’t try to inspect too much at a time.  If you have a digital camera, take it with you during your inspection.  It’s amazing how difficult it is to find something you noticed a week or so ago.  Begin by standing back, away from the home and look for some of the more obvious problems such as:

1. Filled gutters and blocked downspouts.  If you are not sure about them, use a garden hose to make sure that they are in good working order.
2. Look at the dormers and upper story windows for signs of water damage.  If you have a problem seeing that far, use binoculars to inspect the higher areas.
3. If you have a sprinkler system, turn it on to make sure that no water is hitting your foundation or log walls.
4. Landscape plants and shrubs should be no closer than 18 inches to any log wall.  If necessary, trim them back.
5. Move any piles of firewood at least two feet away from the home and never store firewood on the porch.
6. Look for any wood that is in contact with the ground, even if it’s pressure treated.  For protection against termites and rot, all wood should be at least 12 to 18 inches above the soil.
7. When you stand back from a wall you can better see general patterns of wear and fading of your finish, especially on the south and west walls.

Now that you have inspected the wall from a distance it’s time to get up close to see what’s going on.

1. Look closely at the finish.  Round logs tend to weather more on the upper half than the lower half since it’s this area that’s most exposed to the sun and rain.
2. Are there any new upward facing checks that have opened up since your last inspection?  If so, seal them.  It’s also a good idea to pour an ounce or two of borate solution in the check a few days before you seal it to kill any decay fungi that may have started to grow.
3. Look for signs of algae and mold.  If there are green splotches, it’s algae and an indication that the wood is staying damp.  Small dark spots are typically molds.  A good washing with Log Wash will remove mold on top of the stain but if they are located under the stain it may be necessary to remove the finish in order to get at them.
4. As you walk along looking at your logs take along a small hammer and lightly tap the sill logs every couple of feet.  Also check the logs around windows and doors.  If a log sounds hollow or you get a dull thud you may have a pocket of rot that needs to be repaired.  Use a thin bladed screwdriver to probe the area to see if the wood is soft.
5. While you are inspecting the logs you should be looking for signs of insect infestations.  A few beetle holes here and there are no cause for alarm.  Most of the holes are probably old and empty.  If you are not sure, stick a strip of masking tape over the holes and check it a week or so later.  If the infestation is active, holes will have appeared in the masking tape.  It takes many years for these beetles to do much damage.  Just make a note of it and when it comes time to completely refinish the home be sure to treat it with a borate before you apply a new coat of stain.
6. Window and door frames are the source of many water related problems.  Check to see if the caulk is adhering to the adjoining surfaces.
7. Give special attention to all log ends, especially if they extend out beyond roof overhangs. The log ends can really absorb water and that’s where a lot of rot problems start.

Little problems can turn into major ones if left unattended.  A bit of maintenance now and then will keep your home healthy and beautiful.

When it comes to protecting your log home, why not get your info from the experts? Below are some pointers from Sashco - a company specializing in high quality sealants for both conventional home construction and log home finishing and maintenance.

The design of your home and the style of logs that you select are key elements that you should consider early in the planning stage of building your home. These decisions can greatly influence the amount of time and money that you will spend on future maintenance.

Since it is a combination of water and sun (UV rays) that does the most damage to finishing products, it is wise to incorporate long eave overhangs, and, when possible, porches into your home design. Another design element that will extend the life of stain is a good gutter system that keeps water from sheeting down the logs and directs the water away from your home. And, don’t forget those log ends; make certain that log corners and purlins are well under the eaves. By incorporating these design elements into your plans, you will positively influence the longevity of the stain on your home.

Another factor to consider is the style of log that you choose. If you prefer the look of rounded logs, be prepared for more maintenance. The upper curvature of rounded logs takes the full force of the sun, whereas the lower curvature has less exposure to damaging UV rays; this means that to keep an equal appearance between the upper and lower curvature of the logs, a periodic coat of stain may need to be brushed onto the upper curvature of the logs. This step may be necessary only on portions of walls that are receiving extreme and constant sun.

But the single most critical factor in preventing premature stain maintenance is proper prep work of the logs prior to staining. There are five words that sum up the best in proper wood surface prep: clean, sound, warm, dry and textured.

Clean wood is free from mill glaze, dirt, pollen, wax, mold, bird droppings, etc. A buildup of these elements prevents stains from being able to penetrate and bond to the wood surface. This may seem perfectly obvious, but this is the step that is given the least attention, and often a thoroughly clean surface is never achieved, with inevitably poor results. You can count on it–the cleaner the logs, the better the stain can anchor into the wood.

Sound wood is wood that hasn’t suffered surface damage from UV exposure. Surface damage is apparent when the natural color of logs starts to turn a progressively deepening yellow color that then turns to gray. Depending on the location of your home, this process can happen in a matter of as little as two weeks. As the UV degradation continues, the wood fibers are loosening and detaching from the bulk of the wood substrate. If you stain over this fragile and damaged surface, the stain can lose adhesion along with the deteriorating wood fibers. Therefore, wood that has been left unprotected for any extended time should be sanded, media blasted, or aggressively power washed to remove damaged surface wood fibers prior to applying any coating.

Warm wood is ideal for stain application. If the wood surface is too hot, the coating may start to dry before proper wetting, penetration and adhesion can occur. If the wood surface is too cold, the contracted state of the wood cells can prevent penetration and anchoring of oil based stains; and water based stains can start to freeze before they can establish adhesion to the wood. Remember, we are talking surface temperature of the logs, not ambient air temperature.

Dry wood, as defined by the USDA Forest Products Laboratory, contains 20% or less moisture. Coatings can blister and peel if applied to logs with a 20%+ moisture content. Before applying any coating, you should rent or borrow a moisture meter to check the moisture content of your logs. If the reading is 20% or greater, don’t stain. It is better to wait than to have to repair blistering, peeling stain.

Textured wood, roughening up the wood surface by either sanding, a light cob blasting, or any other, similar abrasive methods, will greatly enhance stain penetration, improve adhesion and provide more stain durability than application to a highly smooth surface; this is particularly true on the upper curvature of logs.

The first year after the initial stain application, you want to carefully inspect the overall appearance of the stain, checking for inconsistencies in the initial application. Check to see if there are areas that did not receive an initially adequate amount of stain, which can sometimes happen in localized areas when the stain is first applied. If you locate such areas, simply clean the surfaces with damp rags or bristle brushes to remove dirt, pollen, etc., and then apply a light coat of stain, feathering it into adjoining areas.

Once you have inspected your home and beefed-up any areas that may have needed another light coat of stain, you should consider applying a compatible clear topcoat on the entire structure. Clear topcoats are extremely easy to apply, yet they can extend the life of the pigmented coats of stain underneath. The clear topcoats are sacrificial coats that take the brunt of weathering, protecting, and thus, extending the life of the pigmented coats. They are very easy to apply, and because they are clear, the color of your logs doesn’t darken as it would if you applied repeated coats of pigmented stain. Eventually, however, you will need to decide when more pigmented stain needs to be applied for the best overall appearance and protection.

While you are inspecting the stain, also look for any checks that may have opened up on the upper curvature of the logs. Checks on the upper curvature can take on water from rain and snow, so it is important to pay close attention to these openings and prep and seal them properly.

And, finally, make it a practice to walk around and inspect your home, every fall and spring. Look for the obvious: bushes that have overgrown and are scraping the home, trees that have matured and the canopy is now dripping water down the logs, gutters that need repair, sprinklers that need adjusting and are spraying water on the logs, “stuff” that is being stacked against the logs. These are simple things to correct, but doing them can prolong the life of your stain, allowing you time to enjoy your home instead of working on maintaining it.

Presented by PrecisionCraft, the leader in designing, manufacturing, & constructing log homes.