TIME TO CONSIDER LOG HOME MAINTENANCE…?
Before you run to the nearest hardware store and start trying to fix everything yourself, here are a few tips that may save you a lot of time and money in the long run. Beware of the “know-it-all” handyman or painter who may give you poor advice. Many of the products that you might use on a conventional house can cause a lot of damage when used on a log home. Logs need to breathe…what moisture gets in, must get out!
• If it is not made by a company that only makes log home products, don’t buy it!
• Never use deck/siding stain on your log home. These products trap water and moisture in the log, eventually causing it to rot.
• NEVER paint your logs! Nothing makes a log rot faster (see inset pictures).
• Never use expanding foam. It acts like a sponge, drawing in water and holding it in the logs.
• Never use silicone caulking on the logs. It isn’t designed to stick to the logs and thus allows moisture to be trapped once it gets in.
• There are better ways to clean logs other than sanding. Sanding should be a last resort, as it causes major color variations, among other issues.
The easiest way to get the right information is to call a log home maintenance contractor, like Alpine Blue Log Homes, Inc., to come out and assess your home’s needs.
Our log home specialists are certified in determining the correct products and application methods for your log home. We use only log home products made by reputable log home product companies, such as Perma-Chink, Sascho and Weatherall. While other products may be cheaper or more readily available, log home stains and caulking are specifically designed to adhere to logs and stretch to maintain a tight seal by following log movement.
Do it right, do it once…call us first!
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA LOG HOME BUILDER LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE
Welcome to our new website! We are thrilled to finally have it on-line. As a premiere Northern California log home builder, we are constantly getting requests for pictures of our work, questions about our services and asked for tips on maintaining log homes. We plan to utilize this blog to answer a lot of those questions and more. Please check back often, as we will be adding pictures of our new projects, including log homes under construction and log home restorations. We recently erected this log home in beautiful Napa County. This Tuscan log look would be perfect for a log wine tasting room anywhere in the California wine country!
We are also excited to have a new link on our Contact Alpine Blue web page – Sierra Land Listings. This site allows owners or agents to post listings of their raw land for sale – for free! That’s right, there is no catch, no strings attached, just FREE! This service fulfills a basic need of people wanting to build a log home – the perfect property to build it on. Sierra Land Listings is a highly user friendly site which allows you to view raw land listing all over the country, including California.
Although we build log homes from other log home suppliers in northern California, we are an authorized log home dealer as well, and ship log home kits, custom log home packages and log home accents, like log railings or log posts, anywhere in the country. Not sure exactly what you’re looking for? Let us help you find the right log home or log cabin floor plan and customize it to meet your needs. We are a full service log home builder and can assist you every step of the way, from preconstruction services to handing you the key after building your log home. Check out how we can save you money even before you start to build by visiting the Preconstruction Consulting section on our Services web page and find out why the sooner you contact us, the better.
Already own a log home or log cabin that is ready for some routine maintenance or log repair? Our log home restoration specialists are experts at determining the most cost-effective method to help restore your home to its natural beauty. We use only log home products, specially designed to restore and protect your log home.
You wouldn’t see a foot specialist when you have a heart problem. Why trust your log home with anyone other than a log home specialist? Give us the opportunity to show you the difference. We can’t wait to hear from you!