My log house caught fire

Hi There,I need some vital info regarding a serious matter.My log house caught fire last week. My wife felt an unusual smell & heard a rumbling sound from our living room. And found that the room has caught fire and it was spreading. I was sleeping at that time. She called me and told me the matter. We ran outside and called the fire brigade. They extinguished the fire before it became more dangerous. We couldn't understand the source of fire. We doubt that it is from the fireplace. My…Continue

Started by Kendrick Lozano in Building and Maintenance Issues on Tuesday.

Sikkens (Proluxe) Cetol 1 question

In the process of removing old stain from my white pine log home using a Makita nylon brush wheel and sanding with 80G. After cleaning the logs with water to remove stain dust, I noticed many different colours when wet. Is this a preview of what the new stain would look like and need to do more surface prep or am I worried for nothing? All the previous stain is completely removed except for hard to reach corners which will be sanded next. See pictures link bellow of wet vs almost dry bare…Continue

Tags: pine, white

Started by Seb in All About Stains and Sealants Jun 24.

Removing paint from log home exterior... replacing with stain?

Hi everyone,I purchased and moved into a ~720 sq. ft. log home in Nova Scotia.  Built in 1980, I’d say it’s in pretty good shape.  I’m certainly happy with it.  Heres why I’m writing in this forum.. All the logs are painted, interior and exterior.  While I dont like the interior paint I also know that getting the paint off the inside of the house is going too much for now.  Also just so we are all on the same page, I don’t know who in their right mind would actually want to paint a log home,…Continue

Started by SAM FITZ in Repair and Home Projects Help Jun 10.

How to lift the purlin'?

We are building a log cabin, its 30x25ft built from D milled 6x6” logs. I have felled 3 32ft trees to use as purlins, they must weigh 600-700lb. I have no idea how to lift these into place. How is it normally done? I just got a cost to rent a crane and that came in at a un-affordable $1,100. How am I going to do this?Continue

Started by Jonathan Holden-Remick in Building and Maintenance Issues Jun 1.

Insect boring holes in knots of pine 7 Replies

I will soon be refinishing a side of my log home (stripping to bare wood, borate, then stain).  I have noticed that some insect has been boring into the knots of the logs in a few places.  In some areas its just a small hole, but on others it appears it ate out most of the knot.  I do plan on treating the walls with borate, but I am unsure if this will even help since it will probably not be absorbed in the knots.  Any idea what is causing this?…Continue

Started by Mike in All About Stains and Sealants. Last reply by Mike May 26.

T&G over logs ?

Hey everyone,we purchased a log home built in the mid 80’s. Logs are “D” logs and the interior is stained dark brown which makes the whole interior very dark.   We love the plain clear coat natural look and not interested in sanding everything and dealing with the mess, not to mention the un-evenness of the finished look.  Has anyone put 1x8 tongue and groove boards directly over their logs on the interior side ?  I know this will be more expensive than sanding.  Any advice ?Continue

Started by Jason Henry in Repair and Home Projects Help May 23.

Rot 4 Replies

Looking for help with this horrible problem, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.My second floor bedroom has a balcony.  The logs run through the entire house and go through the exterior wall to outside, where it's holding up the balcony.  One of the end logs I've discovered is rotten, clear up to the cabin wall (outside)I'm afraid if the rot continues not only will my balcony fall but it may rot all the way in until my second floor may be compromised!I've contacted the builder that…Continue

Tags: rot, Balcony

Started by John & Pat Biehn in Repair and Home Projects Help. Last reply by William j pulliam May 21.

Clogged drain problems 1 Reply

A pool of standing water is formed in my bathroom while bathing. I am facing problems with clogged drains in the bathroom and a foul smell is coming from it. It is difficult to enter the bathroom due to this. It was an embarrassing moment for me when one of my guests who used my bathroom came out of it by covering his nose. As my mother is not well, my sisters used to come to my home. They complained to me about the same.I don't want this to happen again. Not only that it is not a problem to…Continue

Started by Chris Carl in Building and Maintenance Issues. Last reply by Judy Juan May 17.