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Home & Garden Articles
Overcome Human Nature With Log Home Maintenance
Wed 03 Jun 2009 - 10:17
Overcome Human Nature With Log Home Maintenance
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jason_Brewer]Jason Brewer
You know how when you first buy a new car, you take extra good care of it? You wash it often, even wax it, you clean it out every week. Then, after a while, you begin washing less, maybe skip the wax and well, maybe clean it out a couple times a year. We call this human nature, and it doesn't apply only to cars. No, we tend to do this with most of our possessions. I know, there are some who are more disciplined than others, but we all have the same tendency.
This is true even when it comes to log homes. To many people building or buying a log home is the fulfillment of a long held dream. They research and look save and wait until finally, they build/buy their dream home. Once they move in, they take great care of it. They carefully seal any and all cracks so no air gets in. They wipe down the walls with proper cleaners designed specifically for logs and they re-apply stain/finish in accordance with the manufacturers recommendations. But, after a while, the maintenance becomes more and more of a hassle. Before you know it, that exterior finish that was supposed to be reapplied every 3 years, well maybe it will make it 4. Has it been 4 already? Well, maybe it will make it 5. It has lasted this long, maybe we can get one more year out of it. Get the picture?
When finish is properly applied and reapplied to a log home in accordance with the manufacturers recommendations, it should work for a long, long time. However when it is not properly applied or maintained, it can flake, peel, crack, discolor, or even wash away. It is at this point that the old finish must be removed completely in order to properly apply new finish and protect your investment.
There are several methods for removing stain from log homes. Some people prefer a chemical stripper. Others like to use a pressure washer. However, the best way to remove failing finish from a log home is cob blasting. Cob blasting removes failing finishes quickly and evenly and opens the pores of the wood in order to accept new stain easily. Unlike pressure washing, it does not "feather" the wood, and it is environmentally friendly to boot.
For those unfamiliar with the cob blasting process, it is similar to sand blasting, the main difference being the blast media is ground up corn cob instead of sand. Corn cob is much softer than sand and therefore does not cause damage to logs the way sand can. Additionally, cob blasting is typically done with lower air pressure than traditional sand blasting.
There are a few minor drawbacks to cob blasting, the biggest being dust entering the home, but I would personally rather a bit of corn cob dust which is easily cleaned up than water or chemical stripper entering my home.
So, if you are one of those that has given in to human nature and let the finish go a little too long on your log home, there is still hope. If you want to bring back the beauty of your log home, contact a professional to blast your old finish and start again. And this time, don't wait too long before you reapply.
Jason Brewer
Blastmaster Surface Restoration, Inc. http://www.Cobblastmaster.com
Blastmaster Surface Restoration, Inc. provides cob blasting services for log home restoration in Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. Please visit our website for more information on the benefits of cob blasting.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Brewer http://EzineArticles.com/?Overcome-Human-Nature-With-Log-Home-Maintenance&id=2410087
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