7 Log Home Maintenance Tips To Shower Your Abode With TLC

5. Stain and protect the outside of your log home

A log home will need wood stain and topcoat, but how often depends on where you live and the wear and tear. Don’t just automatically apply a topcoat each year as a preventive measure, Murdock says. “It could get so thick, it starts to peel.”

How to test whether your cabin needs a new topcoat

Instead, check the condition of your stain, preferably after rainfall or after you’ve washed the home’s exterior. Does any water bead or sheet away? If so, the stain or topcoat is in good shape. If the water darkens the wood, the topcoat is likely gone.

Once the house is dry, check if it needs stain or topcoat by using masking tape. Apply a piece to one of the logs, make sure it’s stuck firm, and then pull it off. If you notice about 40% to 50% of the tape covered with finish, then you need to re-stain, Murdock says.

Options to strip our logs

Murdock recommends using an organic solvent such as S-100 or StripIt to remove the old topcoat and stain before applying any new product. Some log homeowners will opt for media blasting (or using an abrasive pressure blaster) with small particles such as baking soda, crushed glass, or walnut shells to remove old finish, but Murdock considers this a “last resort” and better left to a contractor.

Hiring a professional sandblasting service for such a job costs $1 to $5 per square foot, but these pros will prep your exterior to avoid any damage to your windows, gutters, and other areas. You’ll need to wash away any debris afterward.

Tips for effective staining

• Before applying any stain or topcoat, test it first in a small area (such as two square feet) because the color will change after it dries.
  The Log Home Store recommends different types of stains. Each requires different prep and application methods and drying time to reach its true color.
• Mix stain or topcoat every 15 to 20 minutes, preferably with a tool such as a mixing paddle for your drill to ensure even coverage.
  To keep color coats consistent as you use up containers, “box” the containers throughout the application. In other words, when you have about one-quarter left in the first container, open the next and pour one-quarter of the new container into the old one. Continue with the mixed stain, then repeat.
• Always work where there’s a natural break, such as on one wall at a time, and move completely across an entire log.
  Use an airless sprayer, such as the Wagner Twin Stroke Piston Pump. If you ask a friend to brush behind you with a soft brush until the stain is thin, you’ll have no lap marks, Murdock advises. If you’re using a ladder for high places, skip that log where the ladder touches and do the rest of the wall first, Murdock adds. Once the rest of the wall dries, go back and stain or coat the log where the ladder was to avoid any ladder marks or unevenness.

6. Examine your landscaping and drainage at least once a year

Moisture is probably the most destructive natural hazard to wood, the NAHB says. While coating the wood provides protection, you’ll also want to prevent any pockets of moisture through clogged drains, downspouts, and overgrown landscaping. Keep plants and shrubs at least 18 inches away from log walls to ensure good air circulation, Bell says.

Murdock suggests installing a gravel path about 24 to 36 inches wide around your log home to provide a breezeway. Don’t use any biodegradable material, such as mulch or river rock, which can splash water against your house.

“Water management is extremely important in log cabins, both for the integrity of the logs themselves and for maintaining a dry interior,” notes Kate Ziegler, a New England real estate investor who helps her parents preserve the pre-Revolutionary War log cabin where she grew up in rural Pennsylvania.

Some modern log homes have contemporary foundations and basements, which makes water management a bit easier. However, others, such as her family’s historic cabin, may have “slab” foundations or been built directly on a concrete pad at ground level. So any water that might pool in a basement has the potential to enter your living space instead. She recommends keeping any dirt or mulch away from the lowest logs of your home.

7. Be diligent about pest control

With any wood-based home, catching pests in time can stop excessive decay. Long-horned beetles, carpenter bees, and termites love log homes, but bed bugs, flies, borers, spiders, squirrels, chipmunks, and even woodpeckers also can leave their mark.

If you treat your log home with borate — a natural chemical compound of oxygen and boron — you likely don’t need to inspect the wood as often for signs of pests. Try PenaShield Borate Wood Treatment and Preservative.

Listen for any strange noises from beneath the floor, on the ceiling, or inside the walls. Depending on the size and level of infestation, you can fumigate a cabin on your own, but if you find this difficult, schedule an inspection and treatment with a professional exterminator.

Pest extermination typically costs between $108 and $261, depending on the type of treatment required

Seal and fix cracks and openings to keep pests at bay. In addition, cover all food and tuck it away in the fridge or other storage containers, just like when you’re camping. Clean all garbage bins regularly to remove any food scents that can attract bugs or small animals.