Essential Log Home Tasks for Spring
Living in a log home can be a wonderful experience, given the fact that it has a rustic beauty and charm that no other type of home can provide. However, it does call for some maintenance issues to be addressed each spring, and you will want to tackle these right away, so that your beautiful log home isn’t degraded by the impact of a long winter, or the upcoming heat of summer. Here are some of the tasks you should carry out in the spring to ensure that your beautiful log home retains its wonderful appeal and functionality.
Inspect logs and seals
Chances are, your log walls have been through months of freezing, thawing, and probably even some snowstorms as well. Exposure to the natural elements will always take a toll on your home’s logs, as well as the seals between them. You should conduct a thorough inspection to make sure that no seals have been compromised, and that the stain on your logs has held up well through the winter months. If it has really taken a beating, you may want to consider re-applying a good coat of stain, so as to increase its resistance to weather elements. It’s entirely possible that the caulk or the chinking joints between logs and around doors and windows, could have been stretched out or loosened up during the cold months of winter.
Bees, swallows, and other birds
The logs of your home are very attractive to some types of critters who want to make a nest between the logs. Carpenter bees for instance, will drill entry holes about a half-inch wide and then excavate small little chambers in the logs, so they can lay their eggs. All of the exposed logs on your home are susceptible to damage by carpenter bees, and they will always return to favored nesting spots, so if you had a problem last year, you’re likely to have the same issue this year. The best way to eliminate the problem is to seal up any of those half-inch holes you notice with drione dust, since this effectively kills the nesting female and the larvae. Afterward, the logs can be treated with Cypermethrin so as to prevent any new infestations.
Damage to your log home by swallows and other birds are best managed by preventing them in the first place. You have to be careful about harming any birds, because some of them are federally protected. However, you can encourage them to go somewhere else by covering up specific areas with hardware cloth or mesh early in the season, which is when they come around for nesting. When birds don’t have access to a good nesting spot, they’ll move on and leave your house alone.
Cleaning and washing
At a bare minimum, you should clean and wash your log home once a year, ideally in the springtime. This should remove all the dirt, pollen, and other debris which has settled on the log surfaces throughout the previous year, and especially during winter. There are a number of products available to accomplish this, which will do a great job of cleaning, without harming your logs at all. One of these is called Log Wash, which is a liquid concentrate specially formulated for cleaning logs, and for preparing them for a fresh coat of stain or paint. If you thought your logs were clean before, you might be amazed to see how much grime and filth comes off during your cleaning project.
Time to re-finish?
The stain on your log home does not simply function in an aesthetic role to beautify your home – it also serves to protect the logs against the elements. When you visually inspect your home each spring, you should check for peeling or cracking on the existing stain. If you notice widespread cracking on your stain, it is probably time for you to plan for a re-coating project, as soon as the weather warms up. To remove the old stain, you can engage the services of a professional log cabin media blasting company, so that you can be sure it is completely removed. That will prepare your exterior for a fresh stain, which the same company will probably be glad to do for you. After taking these simple maintenance steps to ensure your home is ready to face the heat of summer, you can relax and enjoy the beauty and comfort provided by your log home.