Part 2 Of Log Home Restoration | ImageWorks Painting

In the first part of this 3-part blog article on The Birds, The Bees & The 1-2-3's Of Log Home Restoration we talked about the importance of performing a thorough inspection of the home to determine the extent of the work that needs to be done.  

In part 2 we will discuss the proper way to prepare the surface and repair any damage to your logs.

2.) Prepare The Surface

Re-Coating Existing Stain/Finish

If the logs are intact and the existing stain/finish is in good shape but you just want to freshen up the color or switch to a new shade, then you might be able to re-coat over the existing finish.

*A word or two of caution*  you will need to do an adhesion test to see if your new coating is going to adhere to the previous one.  One of the most popular log home coating manufacturers (Sikkens) makes a coating system that is commonly used and holds up very well, however it is extremely difficult to get any subsequent finishes to stick to it so, chances are, if it -- or another type like it -- was used on your home you may have to have it removed before you can continue.

If the logs have been painted instead of stained you may also want to consider having the paint removed, and then apply a stain.  Logs need to be able to breathe and if someone has applied a coating that doesn't breathe well it can trap moisture inside the logs causing them to rot over time.

One primary concern when re-coating over existing stains/finishes is to make sure that the surface is clean.  You'll want to remove any staining and discoloration caused by dirt, mold and mildew.  There are several products available on the market that are made specifically for log home pre-stain preparation.  Most of them can be applied to the surface using a pressurized garden-type sprayer or by using the chemical injector feature on a pressure washer.  In some cases manual scrubbing may be necessary to remove heavily soiled areas, but often times the cleaner itself will do the bulk of the work for you as long as you follow up the application with a thorough rinse of the surface using the appropriate nozzle on your pressure washer.

Allow the surface to dry thoroughly before proceeding to the stain application.

Stain/Finish Removal

If removal of the existing finish is necessary, the best way to accomplish this is by means of abrasive media blasting.  Abrasive blasting is a method of using compressed air to propel various types of blasting material, or media, against a surface.  Most people are familiar with the term "sandblasting" -- which is one form of media used in abrasive blasting -- however the type of media used to remove the finish from logs is less harsh to the wood.  

The commonly used types of media for this application are walnut shells, corn cob, or crushed glass.  Using the incorrect type of media can cause damage to the surface of the wood.  Regardless of the kind of abrasive used, you will also have to follow-up the blasting step by going over the surface with an electric sander to smooth out the wood and prepare it for stain.

It is usually best to leave this type of work to the professionals as this can be a very big undertaking where significant damage to your home can be done by the untrained, inexperienced hand.  Additionally, this step can present a large amount of cleanup work after the project is completed.

3.) Repair Any Damage

After you've inpected and prepared the surface, the next thing will be to repair any damage to the logs themselves and the chinking between the logs.  

Repairing Rotted Wood

The first step will be to remove any soft, loose, or rotted sections of logs using an angle grider to get down to a solid surface.  If the damage is not limited to the surface of the wood, but instead goes completely through the log you will have to completely replace those sections with new log pieces.  If this is the case, you will most-definitely need to call in a log home restoration specialist as this is far too dangerous of a job for a DIY'er to tackle.

Assuming you're dealing with surface damage only, once you've removed the bad material and are now dealing with solid wood structure, you will need to treat the newly exposed substrate with a borate-glycol wood preservative solution such as Perma-Chink's Shell-Guard.  This will help to protect the wood against insects as well as any further wood rot.  If you have removed the coating from the entire home down to the bare wood, it's a good idea to treat all of the bare wood surfaces with the preservative before you proceed to the next step.

Once the surface has completely dried you need to treat the newly-exposed wood area with an epoxy wood consolidator which hardens the surface and prepares it for epoxy wood putty, which is the final step in the wood repair process.  Thoroughly coat the newly-exposed wood area with the consolidator (we prefer Perma-Chink's M-Balm) until it stops soaking into the wood.

Follow this step by re-building the surface of the log with an epoxy putty such as Perma-Chink's E-Wood until it is similar in size, shape, and profile to the logs around it.  Once the putty has dried you will be able to finish shaping it using an angle grinder.

*Note* If you are dealing with any particularly large or deep areas that need to be repaired, try partially filling-in the areas by attaching some pressure treated 2x stock (2x4's, 2x6's, 2x8's, etc. depending on the depth of the repair and the size of the logs) to the surface of the fresh wood before applying the epoxy putty.  This will help to cut down on the amount of putty necessary to complete the repair thereby significantly reduce your costs.

In the final part of of The Birds, The Bees & The 1-2-3's Of Log Home Restoration we will address the remaining areas of preparing the home for the finish coats, then we will review applying the stain/finish.

To request a free consultation and quote for your log home restoration project call us at (724) 898-2446 or click on the button below!