DIY Log Home Restoration
A log house isn’t like any other home — and that’s precisely why you love it. While being truly distinct is certainly a centerpiece of the charm, there’s no question that because log homes are different, they require different care to look their best. In today’s blog, we’re highlighting the essentials of log home restoration.
At Gingrich Builders, we have more than four decades of experience building deluxe-quality custom log homes. We also serve our log home residents by providing top-of-the-line log home care, and by offering all of the materials you need to handle it on your own. Keep reading to learn about the essential steps of routine log home restoration — or simply reach out to schedule with our log home maintenance experts!
5 Essential Log Home Care Steps
While maintaining a genuine log house is a bit more complicated than a standard suburban home, you can absolutely handle it on your own. In fact, many of our customers prefer a DIY approach to their log home care. These are the five essential tasks you need to know about — and the pro-level products that make them easy:
- Wash the Log Exterior — Whether our teams are handling it or the homeowner is, the first step of full-scale restoration is washing the home’s exterior. We recommend using the specialized Sashco CPR log home wash. Mixed with water, CPR is designed to clean and brighten the exterior, essentially bringing it back to life.
Buy CPR - Treat for Rot and Insects — Rot and wood-boring insects are quite possibly the two biggest dangers to a log home. That’s why the next step of log home restoration is to protect against them both. We recommend the spray-on product Tim-Bore, which after mixed with water, seeps into the wood siding to eliminate traces of rot and insects.
Learn more about how to handle log home rot repair. - Caulk as Needed — Just like any house built with vinyl siding, water infiltration is bad news. That’s why the next step of log home care involves keeping water out from all of the most vulnerable spots. You’ll want to apply caulk around the windows if you see any gaps, and you’ll want to apply caulk to any exterior cracks. We offer several lines of caulks and sealants, so if you don’t know exactly what you need, just ask us!
Buy Caulk - Stain the Siding — The next step of our log home care routine is to stain the beautiful wood siding. However, the stain that is right for your home depends on whether this is your first time staining it — or if you are staining over another coat. If you are staining your log home for the first time, it is recommended you use the water-based stain, Capture.
However, if you are working over a prior layer of stain, you’ll want to first identify if oil or water based stain was previously used. If oil-based was originally used, then you’ll need to re-stain with Transformation. If water-based was originally used, then you can stain with either Capture or Transformation. Important point to remember: You can stain oil-based over water-based, but not water-based over oil. Both of these stains will bring out the beauty of the wood siding and keep it protected from the elements.
Buy Capture
Buy Transformation - Apply a Clear Top Coat (Only with Capture) — If you’ve only used Capture to stain your wooden home for the first time, you’ll want to follow it up with a clear top coat. The clear coat we recommend, Cascade, is proven to extend the life of the stain and to keep the color and quality of the wood looking healthy. Simply put: if you’ve used Capture, this is an essential step in your log home care routine.
Buy Capture
Why We Trust Sashco & Why You Should, Too
If you’ve been looking through our diverse list of log home restoration products, you’ve probably noticed that we favor the brand Sashco and recommend it wherever possible. Not only do our crews use Sashco products when providing log home care for clients, but we sell it as well.
After decades in the business, we’ve seen and tried countless products, and we endorse Sashco every time. Sashco has earned our business and our endorsement because they continually research and develop the product lines that solve real problems for real log homeowners.
Shop our complete line of Sashco products and more.
Schedule Your Log Home Restoration with Us
Whether you want to handle your log home care on your own or want to bring in our experts, we can help. It doesn’t matter if we built your log home, we have everything you need to keep it looking amazing. If you want to shop our line of Sascho products, we make online shopping easy. And if you want to schedule your log home restoration with our experts, we make that convenient, too.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us today!
