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.
