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or Russian History of Log Home Architecture

Wood is the foundation of some of the world’s greatest historical construction projects and Russia’s rich history of architectural beauty is no exception to this. Russians have a unique and special attitude with respect to their forest resources. This attitude is based on old Orthodox culture and Russian rituals associated with logging and construction. Russians have used wood to build everything from simple peasant homes to elaborate breath taking cultural statements such as Tsar Alexei Wooden Palace, famed for its fairytale style roofs (Figure 1).

Energy Seal has been the product of choice for many log and timber home owners, contractors, log home manufacturers to seal gaps, cracks, joints and other areas where air or water can penetrate into the home..

Energy Seal is a highly elastic acrylic polymer sealant that provides a long-lasting and resilient seal for any style of log home...

Prior to the last step of chinking the featured structure, Chris Hastings and his crew replace the outer half of the structurally damaged lower log with a fresh, sound log section.

The final step in the restoration process is to chink all seams (both vertical and horizontal).

Move to:  Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 6, Week 7, or return to 2. Restore

Following the treatment of Shell-Guard and Oxcon to brighten the wood (see week #3), Chris installed one window to the left for better appearance of this home. Now that house is protected against wood-destroying insects, an application of stain and topcoat will not only enhance your home's asthetic appeal, but will offer protection as well.

The transparent stain will protect your wood from the damaging effects of UV exposure. We recommend one coat of Lifeline Advance (clear coat finish, similar technology used in the automobile industry) over the stain color for protection and extending the life of the pigments in the stain. It also will give a maximum protection against water penetration.

Next week Chris will repair the water-damaged log ends and will bring us to the final step: applying Perma-Chink between all logs to further protect against air and water intrusion. Stay tuned with us to see the chinking application in progress, starting next week.

Move to:  Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, or return to 2. Restore

Exterior visible water damage promted Chris to cut away the outer half of this log which shows major water damage in the log's core.

>You can see how carpenter ants ( which are attracted to high moisture content in wood) have the ability to destroy logs in your log home, often in a short period of time, and in this case, causing major structural damage.

Prevention of water intrusion by using a high quality log home finish (Lifeline Ultra-2 & Lifeline Advance( and sealants (Perma-Chink and/or Check Mate) would have helped eliminate this costly problem.

Move to:  Week 1, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, or return to 2. Restore

Follow Chris Hastings of Pacific Chinking Log Home Restoration Consulting Services week by week as he completely restores a log cabin on Whidbey Island, WA. (Chris Hastings has been featured on Home Time TV series and many log home magazines. )

Q:  Chris, could you tell our website visitors what caused all this wood rot?

A:  The major problem is in the design of the house. The house was designed improperly for the building site. The extensive damage on the lower third of the wall on the exposed side of the house is due to the unsufficient overhangs and water damage.

Q:  What kind of work will you do to bring this house back to life?

A:  The first step for this project is exterior corncob blasting, followed by log repairs, washing and brightening the exterior wood surface, applying borates to preserve the logs and interior and exterior chinking.

Lets take a look at what Chris has been done so far.

Due to the rainy weather, Chris couldn't start any work outside, so he did interior chinking. In places where old mortar fell off between the logs, Chris used Grip Strip prior to Perma-Chink chinking application. Grip Strip reduces the amount of chinking needed to effectively seal the gaps between the logs.

After interior chinking was completed, Chris used Blaster-Buddy finish removal system and corncob media to remove old finish and clean the logs.

Next Chris will cut away some of the logs.

Move to:  Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, or return to 2. Restore