Log Home Maintenance

For many people, purchasing a log home or cabin iswood so that it will beprotected from such
thesingle most rewarding investment they'll everweathering. This means doing verythorough wood
make.flashing as part of the constructionphase of your log
Regular care and maintenance are essential forhome.
protectingthat investment and if it's a log home thatNow, let's say you would like tohave refinishing done
generallymeans finding ways to control moisture.on your log home.
When leftunprotected wood surfaces will discolor andYou should first determine if this is actually necessary
thendeteriorate over time. So do yourself and yourbysprinkling water in different parts of your logs.
loghome a favor by performing some routineA log that does not require finish will show beads of
maintenance everyyear.wateron its surface. When those water beads are
One of the options you may have in log homeabsent, youshould apply a protective coating to your
refinishingand restoration is to replace any rotten logslog homestructure, or hire a professional log home
immediatelyupon detection. Though theoretically anyrefinishingcompany. If the logs also display signs of
rotten log canbe removed and eventually replacedflaking andpeeling,then you should immediately apply a
with sound wooden logs,the location of the rottenproper coatof finish to your log home surfaces.
log will determine how difficultextraction andFor gaps seen between individual logs, you may opt
replacement will be. Another common problemthat isto relyon synthetic chinking or siliconized latex caulk
encountered with log homes is when rotting hitsthatto fillthem in. Many log homes have a chimney made
part of the roof where it meets the upper half ofof hardmaterials like rock integrated into the walls
thelog wall. To remedy this, the rotten part has toand roof ofthe log home. Leaks may be experienced
becompletely removed, replaced with sound wood,at the base ofthe chimney where the roof line and
and thenflashed right way. This area of your logthe flashing meet.
home structureis vulnerable to roof leaks, splashingYou could also find that the rock or masonry of
due to snow or rain,and even piling up of ice, so uponyourchimney may not have been sealed properly, or
construction of your loghome you ought to treat thehave cracked,so that moisture is allowed to enter.