Recommended Maintenance for a log home!

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Permalink Reply by ChinkerBob on January 6, 2009 at 12:48am

Kelly has some good advice here. I've got a few more thoughts.

The journal is an excellent idea. You should start it when you build the house, writing down the brand and color of your interior and exterior finishes. If you chink or caulk, write down brands, types and colors of that material as well. Know what the particular finish you are using recommends for maintenance. Kelly's advise is good but different finishes have different requirements. Think about what any given finish says it will require for maintenance. Make sure you're willing to do what is suggested, allowing for the local conditions that may shorten or lengthen the recommended timetable, etc. If you're not willing to do what the stain manufacturer suggests, or to pay for having it done, you may not be the right sort of person to own a log home.

If you're like me and use a calendar program on your computer, its a no-brainer to add the inspection and maintenance schedules to it so that you'll be reminded when it is time.

(An aside that has nothing to do with maintenance. If you are going to chink your house, make sure the finish you choose is compatible with the chinking you want. Oil based finishes with paraffin are harder to adhere to, and some chinking manufacturers will not guarantee their product when used in that combination. Whether you are doing it yourself or hiring contractors to do the work, think about these things ahead of time. Back when I chinked I had to turn down several jobs because they had already applied finishes incompatible with my chinking. Plan ahead.)

If you are buying and existing house, make a point of getting as much information as you can from the seller about types of finish, color, etc. so you won't be as mystified when its your turn to do the work.

Also, knowing the brands is important if you have problems. If the manufacturer has a guarantee, you can at least try to get them to help with the fix. Many find ways to wiggle out of such things, but it might be worth a try. More importantly, if there is a problem, you want to be sure you don't use that brand again. And in that case, knowing what you originally used will help to determine any fix you decide on. The compatibility of different brands or types of finishes is important to know if you are going to change what you use. Or may help you to decide if you need to corncob blast or otherwise clean your logs before you put on a new finish.

Consider your powerwash more of a heavy shower than a blasting operation. You are spraying, but to clean off the accumulated dirt, etc, but you are not 'blasting' off the dirt. The logs won't take it. Flood the place with water to rinse off dirt and bird stuff, etc. You are not blasting moss off of a brick wall or dirt off of a driveway. Be gentle.

Have someone inside the house, especially the first time you wash it. Have them watch for water coming into the house, both to clean up if it gets in and to help you find where there are leaks. And you may wel find leaks around windows and doors. I once walked up to an occupied log home being powerwashed and asked the foreman if he had anyone inside watching for water. He said he didn't think he needed it. I told him there was a $100,000 painting on the other side of the wall his men were washing, and he got the point. The painting was fine but the carpet was getting pretty wet and that needed to be dealt with.

If you can run your fingernail across the grain of your logs and leave a dusty scratch, you've waited too long and your finish is already bad. Do this before you powerwash because if the finish is that bad the water is going to damage it anyway. You'll at least want to know. And you're going to want to fix the walls with that sort of finish problem.

The twice a year inspection Kelly suggests might also help you detect unsuspected problems early. You may find a flawed roof design (or poorly flashed one) is sending water cascading down a log wall, or that rainwater is splashing mud on the logs and accelerating weatherization problems. The sooner you find such things, the better.

If after a few years you think your house is about the same color as when it was originally stained, grab a ladder and climb up under a porch or high under a roof eaves on the north side and look at the log color there. Out of the weather and away from the sun, those logs are the closest to what you had in the beginning. Use that to help judge what you need to do to the rest of the house.

Any finish will perform very differently in different climates, so be sure the advice you get on types and brands of finishes is local enough to apply to your particular needs. And Kelly is right: where your house is located within a region can greatly affect how well the finish performs and/or how often you have to take steps to maintain it. A house deep in the woods of Montana will probably do well with most any quality finish. A house deep in the woods of western Oregon will mildew so fast its ridiculous unless steps are taken to protect it and maintain that protection. Other climates offer other challenges.

So local climate and exposure to the various elements (not only sun and water, but wind as well) can have an effect.

I live in Montana, and I am astonished at the number of log homes in the area around me that are not being maintained. Their lifespan is being shortened, their value is dropping, and the dreams of their owners are turning to dust. And remember, it is cheaper to do it on schedule and right than it is to fix years of neglect.

One more tip. If you are a gardener with lots of plants or grass around the exterior, make sure your sprinklers are not spraying the logs. More than once I've come across logs with finish problems where the damage was exactly the shape of the spray from the timed sprinklers.

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Permalink Reply by Greg SWEETS on January 6, 2009 at 11:55am

I heard of a product call wood renew that will renew the look of your logs back to looking
new again and will not harm your wood.

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Permalink Reply by Kelly on January 7, 2009 at 8:37pm

Hi Chinker Bob,

You are right about home owners with log homes. Log home owners really should keep a journel of there log home from start to finish. Also keeping a record of what brand of stain they used and the color of it. Also the color of the caulk they used.

It will help the home owner when it is time to recoat again.



Kelly

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Permalink Reply by ChinkerBob on January 7, 2009 at 9:09pm

Thanks Kelly

I thought of one more thing to add to my long entry above. It's a good idea to wash your house once a year even when it isn't time to recoat the stain. Give the house a "shower" using a pressure washer with a wide spray (usually the white tip), with the intent of washing off the dirt and pollen and other stuff that has accumulated in the last year. If you do it in the autumn you can knock off the old robin's nests and stuff and wash off the dirt they have left behind. And that dirty white stuff on the deck below that they kind of left behind. I of course do not advocate knocking down occupied nests.

This will keep you from having to wash off several years of grime when its time to re-stain, it will keep the house looking better, and it will let you see under the dust in case problems are starting to arise with your stain earlier than expected.

Don't get too close to the logs, just give the house a good rinse.

As I mentioned above, when you're washing an occupied or at least complete log home, have someone inside watching for leaks. If you find some, get out the caulking gun when the house is dry and seal things up. Water leaks are always air leaks too, and usually bug leaks as well.

The clean house will remind you why you like living in a log structure...

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Permalink Reply by Anne on January 8, 2009 at 8:23am

Thanks Kelly and ChinkerBob!,
As a new log home owner this information is GREAT! 2 questions:
One side of our home is exposed to the sun MUCH more than the others. Is it possible that we will have to restain that one side more frequently than the others? I can already notice a slight difference in color on that side.
Is there an additive or product that will help prevent mildew? I can forsee this being a problem.
Thanks!
Anne

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Permalink Reply by Greg SWEETS on January 8, 2009 at 10:55am

also like ChinkerBob said washing down your house once a year is great,but there is a product
call log wash that will clean and make your stain look new again and the good thing about
it is that you do not have to use a pressure washer all you do is mix a cup or two per gallon
of water and put in pump up sprayer or you can brush it on and rinse with water hose.great
product for maintance cleaning.eviro friendly.

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Permalink Reply by Kelly on January 8, 2009 at 12:22pm

Hi Anne,
You are correct about recoating one side more than others. Again it depends on where you get hammered with the UV. There is a product that you can add to your stain to help prevent mold and mildew and it is called (Stay Clean).

I am so glad to of helped you!

Kelly

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