How To Maintain Your Log Home
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Living in a log home
In this day and age, there are still people who prefer to build and live in log homes in the United States. One reason may be that log homes seem to be cozy, comfortable, and quaint forms of lodging that many people are attracted to. However, like all homes built of wood, log homes require proper maintenance or else their log siding will eventually rot due to exposure to the elements (particularly rain and water splatter.)
Restoring Your Log Home
Deciding on what kind of log-home supplies, products or treatment you require depends on many factors, including your typical weather conditions and geographic location. If in doubt, the best log-home restoration solution would be consult with a professional log-siding maintenance company with a proven track record in maintaining log homes.
Log-Home Construction and Maintenance
For many people, purchasing a log home or cabin is the single most important investment they'll ever make. Regular log-home repair and maintenance are essential for protecting that investment and if it's a log home that generally means finding ways to control moisture. Wood surfaces will discolor and deteriorate over months and years if they are not properly protected. So do yourself and your log home a favor by performing some routine maintenance every year.
Treating Your Log Home
Inspect the exterior of your log home at least once a year. Look for cracks, or checks, that may occur in the logs. If they begin to accumulate water, they'll need to be treated with a protective coating to keep moisture out of the logs. You can purchase a moisture meter at most home improvement or paint stores. You can also buy log-home stains to protect your home.
Determine if your log home needs refinished
Now, let's say you would like to have refinishing done on your log home. You should first determine if this is actually necessary by sprinkling water in different parts of your logs. A log that does not require finish will show beads of water on its surface. When those water beads are absent, you should apply finish to your log home structure. If the logs also display signs of flaking and peeling, then you should really apply a proper coat of finish to your log surfaces.
Log home wood rot
To know if your log home has been affected by wood rot, use a small hammer to firmly tap on the log you suspect has been hit by wood rot. If the sound that you hear is that of a dull thump, then you have a rotten log in your wall. However, if the log is still sound and stable, the sound that will be produced will be like a clear ring instead. In that case, you should take steps to guarantee that sound logs in your walls will not be hit by wood rot in the future. This can be done through proper log home refinishing and restoration.
Replacing rotten logs
One of the options you may have in log home refinishing and restoration is to replace any rotten logs immediately upon detection. Though theoretically any rotten log can be removed and eventually replaced with sound wooden logs, the location of the rotten log will determine how difficult extraction and replacement will be. Another common problem that is encountered with log homes is when rotting hits that part of the roof where it meets the upper half of the log wall. To remedy this, the rotten part has to be completely removed, replaced with sound wood, and then flashed right way. This area of your log home structure is vulnerable to roof leaks, splashing due to snow or rain, and even piling up of ice, so upon construction of your log home you ought to treat the wood so that it will be protected from such weathering. This means doing very thorough wood flashing as part of the construction phase of your log home.
Gaps and chinking
For gaps seen between individual logs, you may opt to rely on synthetic chinking or siliconized latex caulk to fill them in. Many log homes have a chimney made of hard materials like rock integrated into the walls and roof of the log home. Leaks may be experienced at the base of the chimney where the roof line and the flashing meet. You could also find that the rock or masonry of your chimney may not have been sealed properly, or have cracked, so that moisture is allowed to enter. If a chimney cap is also not set into place properly, that could also result in entry of water because the function of the chimney cap is to prevent water from entering the chimney.
Quick Guide
How to Maintain a Log Home or Cabin
· Check for dampness on the logs to see if they're caused by leaky gutters or poor drainage. If there are leaks or you see bad drainage, correct the problem as soon as possible.
· Protect your log home when the stain begins fading and or discoloring. Power wash your log home prior to applying stain. Pressure washing will eliminate and remove contaminants like dirt, debris, mold and mildew.
· Carefully examine your log home annually for evidence of cracks, chinking deterioration, water damage, termites, mold, mildew or any other log home maintenance concerns you may have or should have. Treat any problems that you might have in your home as quickly as you can with chemicals or natural products, depending on how sever the problems are. You will find that cedar-home maintenance will be slightly easier than other types of woods.
· Trim your shrubs and trees back that are up against the exterior of your log home. This greenery holds water and will create moisture retention problems.
About the Author
Jaworski Coatings, Inc 41735 Oberlin Elyria Road Elyria, Ohio 44035 http://www.ohio-log-home-restoration.com http://www.cleveland-ohio-painting-contractor.com http://www.welovepainting.com 866-874-2114
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