Entries Tagged as 'Log Home Restoration'
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Replacing a rotten log on a log home is no easy task. However it is an unfortunate task that sometimes may have to be tackled. Luckily there have been only a couple of logs that have needed to be replaced on this 100+ year old structure.
Here at the lodge a base log was in great need of repair. Being that the logs are all American Chestnut - which no longer grows to any size here in the U.S. since the blight that wiped them out in the 1920s and 
30s - a suitable replacement has to be located.
I choose Ash as a replacement. It has a similar grain as Chestnut and blends well. Ash also takes stain much the same and once stained its difficult to differ between the two. It provides very straight logs and is a nice hard wood with that I can easily obtain. Suffice it to say that I love getting my hands on a fine piece of Ash.
The log in question is a base log. A base log is the first log in contact with the foundation.
Read more on replacing a rotted log
Tags: Log Home Repair · Log Home Restoration
Removing paint from logs is no easy task. The video here demonstrates one method.
Painted logs present a problem as described in an earlier post - removing that paint present another problem - how to do it. You can use chemical strippers but this would be extremely costly, take a tremendous amount of time and create an environmental mess.
There have been suggestions of using a high pressure power washer. Forget it. Not only will you be soaking the logs with unwanted water but it is terribly inefficient in paint removal.
You can use a grinder with sanding pads but this is also inefficient as you will go through pads quickly and have great difficulty getting into small areas.
Read more on stripping paint from logs
Tags: Log Home Repair · Log Home Restoration
There are a few ways to protect your logs from the elements but I cannot stress enough that painting is not one of them. If you are looking to refinish your log home and some hack of a restoration guy comes along and suggests painting it will help improve its looks and protect it - quickly escort him off of your property.
If you are on the market looking at log cabins and fall in love with one that has been painted - take heed and think hard as you may be in for a rude awakening. Some painted log cabins are salvageable while others may have rotted beyond reasonable repair. Paint can hide a host of problems and there may be a very good reason that they were painted.
Read more on the problem of painted logs
Tags: Log Home Repair · Log Home Restoration
February 26th, 2007 · 1 Comment
A subscriber/reader asks “The fiberglass strips of insulation that you suggest be placed between the logs… I assume those are about 5″ wide (cut from 15″ rolls) is it only one strip between the logs that we would need to use or two (i.e., back to back with the paper sides glued together)?
Thanks for the question….. In a couple of earlier posts we discussed insulating between the logs using rolled insulation that I had cut. You want to make sure that you do not compress the insulation it should remain fluffy.
I simply cut the insulation with scissors (mind you I wear one of those paper masks when working with insulation and gloves when handling) into strips — the strips I cut are about 2 inches wide usually. But it depends on the size of your logs.
Read more on chinking and insulating
Tags: Log Home Chinking · Log Home Repair · Log Home Restoration
As I explore the web looking for websites that cater to log home enthusiasts every so often I come across a website that I keep going back to time after time. The Logman-Logblog is just one of those sites.
Montana Tom provides a host of information on log home building, resources and information. Check out his site Tags: Log Home Restoration
Paul, as addressed in the previous post, is tackling a major rebuilding and restoration of an outstanding hand hewn log home that he disassembled and moved from Pennsylvania to his property in West Virginia.
Disassembling a log home is a long laborious process. Each log, its position and adjoining logs must me marked properly before dismantling so that the pieces fit back together when reassembled.
Paul says that he is not exactly sure of the age of the original log home. “the logs are apparently old growth yellow pine and heavy as heck” he writes.
Replacement of some of the logs was necessary as over the years there had been some modifications with the addition of doors and windows leaving a structure that he felt was a bit unstable.
Read more on Paul's project
Tags: Log Home Chinking · Log Home Restoration · Reader's Cabins
I make my own wood preservative. I could run out and purchase a similar preservative for about $95 a gallon or I can spend about $10 and make my own. I make a concentrate that I can store and when desired mix with equal parts of water use in a garden sprayer on my logs.
My ingredients for a home-brew wood preservative include Borax, Boric Acid and Propylene Glycol.
Read more about home brew preservative
Tags: Log Home Chinking · Log Home Repair · Log Home Restoration
October 24th, 2006 · 5 Comments
I received an amazing email from someone that had purchased a home and soon discovered upon beginning restoration and remodeling that underneath the clapboard siding was a hand-hewn log home. What an exciting find!
Some may grimace at such a find as it does open up a host of unanticipated situations with which they must tackle beyond the norm of home restoration. A find such as this may also drastically change the original plans.
Hand-hewn log homes are a different beast than the typical log home. Where natural logs (round logs) are used to build a home the intention is to leave the logs exposed - no further siding would be used. But historically the hand hewn log home was a method used to construct walls - both interior and exterior to which an exterior or interior wall surface would be adhered. The log construction was merely a method but not intended as a finished surface.
Read more about chinking hand hewn log homes
Tags: Hand Hewn/Dove Tail · Log Home Chinking · Log Home Restoration
September 27th, 2006 · 3 Comments
The chinking continues here at the lodge.
I have been replacing chinking damaged by the previous owner who smeared the original chinking with synthetic material. The synthetic chinking trapped moisture within causing the original material to disintegrate. For the initial chinking I make mine light on water — I just want it wet enough that when I form a ball with it - it holds.
The old material that I removed is damp and falls apart like sandstone and the logs in the affected area are also damp, wet or worse and need to be dried, stabilized and repaired.
Read more for a chinking recipe
Tags: Log Home Chinking · Log Home Repair · Log Home Restoration
September 14th, 2006 · 11 Comments
Chinking a log home is actually an easy thing to do. Think of it like icing a cake.
As you may have read in one of my earlier posts, I am not a fan of pre-made synthetic chinking or synthetic chinking of any kind. I make my own chinking with a simple mix of portland cement, sand and lime.
Before adding water I tend to mix all the ingredients together in my trough - you don’t have to as its just a quirky thing I do.
The consistency that I’m trying to achieve is like that of thick peanut butter. I want to be able to mix just enough water to it so that when I form a ball of the mix with my hands — it holds.
Read more for the chinking recipe
Tags: Log Home Chinking · Log Home Repair · Log Home Restoration
30s - a suitable replacement has to be located.
