My Idea Notebook goes everywhere that I go! It usually stays in the car, but I always have it handy should I need a measurement, a color, or a description for someone who’s helping us make this home a reality — such as a bank lender, blueprint designer, or cabinet installer. Or, if my friends & relatives have a question or make a suggestion on the fly, then I just grab the Idea Notebook and add it to my collection of great ideas.
stains and chinking
When Should You Finish The Wood For Your Log Home?… Before Or After It’s Built?
Should you stain the logs or finish the wood for your log home before the home is completed or after? See the advantages to both methods.
Color Options: Tips For Painting Or Staining Interior Log Walls Or The Exterior Of Your Log Home
I love idea of painting log walls. I really like color and am not afraid of putting it anywhere — including interior log walls. I have also seen several log home companies displaying homes that have a painted exterior color. Here are some things to consider BEFORE painting your log home.
Log Home Staining Issues & Tips For Ongoing Log Home Maintenance
How often you need to stain your log home will depend on the color of stain you choose and how well you did the log staining prep work mentioned here. Lighter stains will need to be reapplied every 2-3 years. Darker stains can last 4-5 years. Here are more log home maintenance tips and things to watch for.
Before You Stain Your Log Home’s Exterior: 4 Important Steps
Your log home is built, the weather is right, and now it’s time for the exterior of your log home to be stained. For the record, they say that the best time to stain a log home is when the logs have a moisture content less than 19%. Here are the 4 necessary steps prior to staining a log home.
How We Chose A Log Staircase For Our Log Cabin
We fell in love with the log staircase that Hiawatha had in their model log home. It was comprised of half logs for steps and fit perfectly into the home’s layout. It was something that we just ‘had to have’ in our log cabin. We researched the cost, and then compared the various log staircases that were available. Here’s what we’ve learned about log stairs…
Looking For Green Log Home Products & Building Supplies?
Here’s a great list of environmentally-friendly green log home products and suppliers. So, if you’re trying to make your currently log home more green or you’ll soon be building your very own green log home, here are some companies that will make your life easier!
See What Your Log Home Would Look Like With Different Colors Of Stains, Chinking, Decks & Trim
Weatherall has a fun — and FREE — program you can download to see what your log home would look like with different color schemes. Yep, change the stain color on the logs, the deck, the trim work. Change the color of the chinking — if any. You can even change the style and color of the roof. Download Weatherall Color Viewer here.
Why We Decided Against Composite Decking For Our Log Home
After a lot of research and homework, we’ve actually decided AGAINST using composite decking at this time. It wasn’t an easy decision. Far from it. In fact, we were honestly looking forward to trying it. But the cons outweighed the pros at this point in time. Here’s why…
Exterior Doors: Should You Buy Paint Grade Or Stain Grade Doors?
It didn’t make sense to me why our decision to paint vs stain the exterior doors couldn’t be made after-the-fact — after we had installed the doors — and why it would affect the price of the doors anyway. But after a conversation with a contractor about this, I learned that we should always say we want a stain-grade door, rather than a paint-grade door. Here’s why…
