5. Stain and defend the skin of your log residence
A log residence will want wooden stain and topcoat, however how usually will depend on the place you reside and the damage and tear. Don’t simply routinely apply a topcoat annually as a safety measure, Murdock says. “It could get so thick, it starts to peel.”
Easy methods to take a look at whether or not your cabin wants a brand new topcoat
As a substitute, verify the situation of your stain, ideally after rainfall or after you’ve washed the house’s exterior. Does any water bead or sheet away? If that’s the case, the stain or topcoat is in good condition. If the water darkens the wooden, the topcoat is probably going gone.
As soon as the home is dry, verify if it wants stain or topcoat through the use of masking tape. Apply a bit to one of many logs, be certain it’s caught agency, after which pull it off. For those who discover about 40% to 50% of the tape coated with end, then you might want to re-stain, Murdock says.
Choices to strip our logs
Murdock recommends utilizing an natural solvent corresponding to S-100 or StripIt to take away the outdated topcoat and stain earlier than making use of any new product. Some log householders will go for media blasting (or utilizing an abrasive stress blaster) with small particles corresponding to baking soda, crushed glass, or walnut shells to take away outdated end, however Murdock considers this a “last resort” and higher left to a contractor.
Hiring an expert sandblasting service for such a job prices $1 to $5 per sq. foot, however these professionals will prep your exterior to keep away from any harm to your home windows, gutters, and different areas. You’ll want to scrub away any particles afterward.
Suggestions for efficient staining
- Earlier than making use of any stain or topcoat, take a look at it first in a small space (corresponding to two sq. ft) as a result of the colour will change after it dries.
The Log Dwelling Retailer recommends several types of stains. Every requires completely different prep and utility strategies and drying time to achieve its true colour. - Combine stain or topcoat each 15 to twenty minutes, ideally with a instrument corresponding to a mixing paddle on your drill to make sure even protection.
To maintain colour coats constant as you utilize up containers, “box” the containers all through the appliance. In different phrases, when you will have about one-quarter left within the first container, open the subsequent and pour one-quarter of the brand new container into the outdated one. Proceed with the combined stain, then repeat. - At all times work the place there’s a pure break, corresponding to on one wall at a time, and transfer fully throughout a whole log.
Use an airless sprayer, such because the Wagner Twin Stroke Piston Pump. For those who ask a good friend to brush behind you with a mushy brush till the stain is skinny, you’ll haven’t any lap marks, Murdock advises. For those who’re utilizing a ladder for prime locations, skip that log the place the ladder touches and do the remainder of the wall first, Murdock provides. As soon as the remainder of the wall dries, return and stain or coat the log the place the ladder was to keep away from any ladder marks or unevenness.
6. Study your landscaping and drainage no less than every year
Moisture might be the most harmful pure hazard to wooden, the NAHB says. Whereas coating the wooden gives safety, you’ll additionally need to forestall any pockets of moisture by clogged drains, downspouts, and overgrown landscaping. Maintain crops and shrubs no less than 18 inches away from log partitions to make sure good air circulation, Bell says.
Murdock suggests putting in a gravel path about 24 to 36 inches vast round your log residence to offer a breezeway. Don’t use any biodegradable materials, corresponding to mulch or river rock, which may splash water in opposition to your home.
“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 actual property investor who helps her mother and father protect the pre-Revolutionary Battle log cabin the place she grew up in rural Pennsylvania.
Some fashionable log properties have modern foundations and basements, which makes water administration a bit simpler. Nevertheless, others, corresponding to her household’s historic cabin, might have “slab” foundations or been constructed straight on a concrete pad at floor stage. So any water which may pool in a basement has the potential to enter your dwelling area as an alternative. She recommends holding any filth or mulch away from the bottom logs of your property.
7. Be diligent about pest management
With any wood-based residence, catching pests in time can cease extreme decay. Lengthy-horned beetles, carpenter bees, and termites love log properties, however mattress bugs, flies, borers, spiders, squirrels, chipmunks, and even woodpeckers can also depart their mark.
For those who deal with your log residence with borate — a pure chemical compound of oxygen and boron — you probably don’t want to examine the wooden as usually for indicators of pests. Strive PenaShield Borate Wooden Therapy and Preservative.
Pay attention for any unusual noises from beneath the ground, on the ceiling, or contained in the partitions. Relying on the dimensions and stage of infestation, you’ll be able to fumigate a cabin by yourself, however should you discover this troublesome, schedule an inspection and therapy with an expert exterminator.
Pest extermination usually prices between $108 and $261, relying on the kind of therapy required
Seal and repair cracks and openings to maintain pests at bay. As well as, cowl all meals and tuck it away within the fridge or different storage containers, identical to while you’re tenting. Clear all rubbish bins frequently to take away any meals scents that may appeal to bugs or small animals.
