Stop The Rot

Get your log walls in tip top shape with these simple fixes.

- Paul Peebles

Time — or the lack of it — can cause bad things to happen to good log homes.

I admit to walking around my house, doing tasks, like mowing the lawn, when I happen to spy plants growing out of my gutter or a check that has formed in a log that needs attention. Often, I make a mental note to do something about it next weekend, but in the meantime, the fish start biting or something comes up at work, and poof — my mental note is erased and my log home goes untended.

Am I a procrastinator? Not really. I’m just busy doing other things instead of the things I should be doing, like looking  after my home. But all houses — not just log homes — require maintenance; and if you don’t make time for simple upkeep, you’ll find yourself with a much bigger and more expensive repair down the line. In the case of log homes, this typically translates to rot.

As a log home professional, I can tell you that every time I have looked at a rotten log, I can connect the issue to one of the three causes outlined below. But more important than knowing the root of the problem is knowing how to avoid it, or, if it’s too late for avoidance, fix it for good.

Here are my big three:

THE CAUSE: Nonfunctioning gutters