Posts Tagged ‘exterior stains for log homes/cabins’

Refinishing Log Home — Full service or à la carte… you choose.

We are refinishing a log home near Danbury, Wisconsin this week. Blasting is one of the steps to refinishing and we blast about 40 homes a year.

Sometimes we come in and do everything, which includes blasting, treating the logs with a borate solution, chinking, filling checks, doing log replacement and staining. This is what we call “whole house” jobs or full service.

refinishing log home

You can see a bit of the before and after blasting.

On this home, after we did the blasting, we applied a borate treatment, chinked around the windows and doors and finally, we re-stained the logs and trim. Basically a full service job.

On other jobs, we may come in and do only rotten log replacement or only do the blasting and borate treatment.

For customers who are more inclined to do some of there own maintenance themselves, this can be a good option. In these cases, we work with the owner to help him/her choose the right stain.  We can even connect them with suppliers of the stains who can drop ship right to their door. Click here to learn more about choosing the right stain.

Whether it is a full service/whole house project or an à la carte project, we can help with log home refinishing.  We work with our clients to determine how they are most comfortable getting the job done and then… we get it done right.

Check out our blasting video to get an idea of how it is done.

Related links:

Click here if you are interested in getting a estimate for blasting.

Blasting vs. power washing

Matching the color of new stain  to old stain

Contact us

Log home refinishing: How to choose a stain – oil based vs. next generation latex stains

Log home refinishing has changed over the years because of the changes in the products used. We get asked at least a few times a month about the advantages of oil based vs. latex based stains on log homes. This seems to be the “age old debate” in the log home community.  In brief, we recommend the latex based stains when finishing your log home and here is why.

About ten years ago, the EPA made a set of rules that are effectively going to make oil stain a thing of the past. The rules have been phased in. The companies that make log home stain have been putting all their research and development efforts into the “next generation” latex stains. These are stains that contain latex based pigments.

build up of stain

Notice the contrast between the darkened logs and the crowns that had already been blasted to remove the built up finish.

The oil based stains are still around mainly because they continue to sell and many people still swear by them. The reality is that the stain companies will have to change them significantly to comply with current environmental law. Another drawback of the oil-based stains is that some oil stains have a problem with “buildup”. These film-building stains can build up to the point that they can cause problems with rotting logs.

The new latex stains are lasting longer and longer and they lack the buildup problems that oils have. These are two reasons why the scales have tipped for us to the side of the latex based stains. There is still no magic bullet for semi-transparent stains.  The reality is that you need to keep up with a re-coat schedule on your house.  It is our opinion that when it comes to log home refinishing… we recommend using latex stains.

Related links:

More on film building stains
Cob, sand or glass blasting
Replacing rotten logs
Selecting a finish

“Film-forming finishes” are not a good choice for log homes

Repair and restoration of log homes – In our 30 years in the log home restoration and repair business, we have seen many disastrous problems with rot in log homes. Some of the most tragic problems we have seen have been the result of having what I refer to as a “film-forming finish” on the logs.

up-facing cracks can lead to rot

Darkening logs is indicative of failing "film forming finish". This one had up-facing checks that caused some of the rot issues, as well.

When I say tragic I mean we have seen extensive rot in homes that are 10 years old or less. While the rotted logs cannot be blamed solely on these “film-forming finishes”, it is certainly a factor that adds significantly to their decay.

Let me take a minute to explain what I mean by “film-forming finishes” and what we expect from finishes in general and then get into how they can cause problems on log homes and cabins. (more…)