MAINTENANCE ON YOUR LOG HOME

Like every other house exposed to the elements, Log Homes are neither maintenance free, nor are they absolute killers to take care of. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to state that the first couple of years demand significantly more work than your standard-issue house - unless, of course, you can afford to pay someone to do the work for you! Log preparation and the base coat of stain are critical to the long-term success of your wall protection. But once the initial work is done, the maintenance becomes routine, and I would venture to guess log homes are a little easier to care for than other wood houses. After all, you don't have to strip the stain off between coats. LOG PREPARATION: Most construction sites become a sea of mud in a short period of time. The soil has been disturbed and there's no grass to hold the dirt together (or absorb the rain). You'll discover that the first few log courses are absolutely pristine, but the higher the walls become, the more the logs get dropped, smudged, or even used as stepping stones to dryer places (like the port-a-potty). Once the house is up, the logs will have to be washed before applying a stain... both inside and out. Doing the interior cleaning in the right order didn't occur to us - especially since the logs were erected in the winter. In our case, the timing was all wrong; you really want to wash the interior walls before the finished floor is laid, and before the basement insulation is installed under the floor decking. We didn't make it, and we had to follow our wall-washing with a shop-vac to get rid of all the water... what a mess!