Log Home Tips
How To Manage Settling Problems In Log Homes
Settling from wood shrinkage is a natural characteristic that you should be prepared for in a log building. In fact, anticipating it and building for it during construction can help homeowners or builders tackle it well. Most wood shrinkage and settlement around doors, windows and vertical posts cause energy efficiency problems and take up time and expense in maintenance. There is cause for concern about construction quality rather than structural integrity with settling. What is Log Home Settling? The dynamics of a log home should allow for shrinkage of logs over time and it is not even unique to log homes, as this is common even among stick-built homes. The cylindrical shaped wood fibers often shrink in the radial direction as they dry out causing the logs to contract in radius, without any appreciable change in length. So you will find the height of log home walls reducing in height...
Questions You Should Ask Before A Log Home Restoration
- Who is the manufacturer of the log package?
- What species of log has been used?
- Have additions been made to the original structure?
- What materials have been used in maintenance applications so far?
- Who constructed the structure and how old is it?
- Are there any known problem areas? Any known coating or sealing failures?
- What should the structure look like when you’re done?
- What is your workable budget to restore my log home?
- Is there a priority list for the work?
- What methods are used to remove the existing finish?
- What is the estimated cost of a log home restoration?
- How long does it take to finish restoration work?
What Methods Are Used To Remove The Existing Finish?
- Ozzying (Sanding) uses an osborne brush or buffing pads at changing speeds of right angle grinder.
- Media Blasting is performed with corn cob granule, glass, walnut shells, or food grade baking soda.
- Chemical Strippers -This step of removing an existing finish from your log home requires the greatest amount of time in the restoration project. It is very important to get this right and strip off any existing finish completely so that you have a clean canvas to work on.
As a log home owner, do due diligence before selecting one of these methods. You will need to work out which method would suit your budget and needs best. When hiring a pro, do check out the contractors past work to get a clear picture of what the end result may look like.
Two Advantages of Chinking on Log Homes
When you are thinking about different materials that you can use on your home's interior or exterior, chinking remains a popular option for log cabin style homes. This is a material that is commonly used for both its aesthetic and functional benefits because of its affordability and relative ease of use. With a closer look at what these advantages are, you may decide that applying chinking on your log cabin home is a great option for you. Functional Benefits With a true log cabin style home, there are inevitably gaps that form in between the logs. These gaps make the home susceptible to air leaks and even pest and rodent infestations, and there is a need to seal the gaps in some way. Chinking can be made from natural or synthetic materials, and it essentially provides an airtight seal in...
Guide to Carpenter Bee Prevention and Treatment
Carpenter Bees are a common problem for owners of log homes and controlling them is an even bigger challenge. Most people know very little about carpenter bees and are even intimidated by these intruders. This is a guide for log home owners to deal with carpenter bee problems. Information about Carpenter Bees You must first know a little more about carpenter bees before trying to effectively deal with them. Carpenter bees live throughout the United States, though the western species of carpenter bees prefer to nest in oak, eucalyptus, and redwood. Eastern species will target pine, redwood, fir, and cedar. To a carpenter bee therefore, a log home is the ideal target, with unpainted and weathered soft woods like redwood, pine, and cedar. These are solitary bees that do not live in hives....
