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Now that the weather has warmed up work has resumed on the remodeling of the small bath and shower installation.

The two stick frame walls have been insulated and covered in a plastic vapor barrier. The log wall shown here in the first photo has not seen the light of day for probably 50 years or more and needed a serious cleaning. The tops of the logs were covered with a thick black soot from years of coal and wood burning heat.

Using my home recipe for cleaning logs I have gently washed down the logs with a soft bristle brush. This process will brighten the wood slightly. However once clean I will re-stain and seal the logs at a later stage of the construction.

Cleaning the logs takes patience. You will need a couple of buckets. One bucket of hot water with the solution and a bucket of cool clear water to rinse.

Gently wipe loose grime off the log with a damp rag and cool clean water. Much of the soiling will come off with simple water however, many of the logs here at the lodge had a surface coating of soot which refuses to come off with just water.

I apply the warm water solution with a sponge wetting the log and then using a soft bristle brush loosen the grime. I give the solution a few minutes to work then wipe off with cool clean water and let dry. The logs here took a few applications to get clean.

Much of the chinking is in good shape and will only need to be cleaned on the back wall however, when building the new door jam I will have to remove a portion of the chinking as I will have to trim and cut the cheeks in the lower logs. At that time I will also repair the few areas that need new chinking and skim coat the rest to make uniform.

The logs came out pretty well yet there are some areas that I still have to go back and clean.

These newly exposed logs will be stained and finished with an amber shellac to match the rest of the logs here at the lodge.

Next I’ll be working on the door jam as well as bringing heat into this unheated space.