It is a well-known fact that wooden garages, when compared to concrete garages, do not require as many building materials. Additionally, the laminated log cabins available these days are durable, eco-friendly and easy to maintain. Wooden garages are easy to maintain but they do need to be maintained in order to prevent the wood from decaying prematurely and to maximise their length of service. Log home maintenance is different from regular home maintenance. There are several issues concerned with log cabins or garages made of logs than the regular hardwood floors and concrete walls in homes.
If you have a wooden garage then you have to take into consideration the proper care and maintenance of the log materials. Check the ceilings, walls and the floors regularly and decide if you need to have them refinished or repaired.
What is Wooden Garage Maintenance?
Wooden garage maintenance is the complete upkeep on a log shell to make sure there is proper protection from harmful UV radiation, air infiltration, water damage, rodent and insect intrusion. Maintenance also guarantees that the wooden garage looks the way it did the first day it was installed.
One part of the maintenance procedure that actually helps to increase the life of sealants and stains is an annual wash of your wooden garage. This removes any surface contaminants like bird faeces, pollen, dust and insect remains (egg sacs, webs, skeletons etc.) that will wear the finish prematurely. Washing the home also helps you find out if there are any areas of failed chinking or caulking and offers a complete assessment of the condition of the wooden garage stain to get an idea of which areas or walls needs a maintenance coat of stain.
A nice way to check the condition of a log carport finish is to let the building dry completely after the wash. This will help you find out what type of cabin stain is on your garage. If you have an oil based stain you should look at the checks and stains on the walls. These areas will fade when the finish layers come off and this shows that you should apply one to two maintenance coats of stain. If you have a waterborne latex based stain on your cabin you should look at the glossiness of the finish. Once the finish is dull, consider applying a clear maintenance coat to walls.
When chinking or caulking is failing or has failed around the log cabin you should mark these areas and remove the bad areas of chinking or caulking with a razor or knife. This will allow the area behind the sealant to properly dry as moisture is most probably the reason the sealant is not adhering to the logs.
Window washing is also crucial when it comes to wooden garage maintenance.
Here are few really important steps of wooden garage maintenance:
Cleaning the log cabin: Just like traditional garages you need to clean your wooden garage regularly. Generally, the walls of traditional homes are even and as a result they don’t need much cleaning; simply wipe them with a wet cloth and it is done. On the other hand, when talking about cleaning the walls of wooden cabin, you have to be very careful as there are nooks and crevices that need to be cleaned meticulously. Over time, the nooks collect dust, so they should be wiped well.
Routine check of the complete cabin: On a regular basis, each part of the house should be checked. Generally, people only check walls for damage but checking ceilings for cracks is equally important. It may be tedious, but checking the logs for insects, sealant and stain is crucial.
Repair minor and major defects: You should get any minor and major defects in the logs repaired as soon as possible. When buying a wooden garage you should ensure that you choose the right type of logs. Check that they have been properly dried by artificial or natural methods. You can also hire the services of experts to repair the cracks in the logs. It is vital that you get them fixed instantly so that the condition doesn’t become worse. Cracks and dark patches are really common problems for logs. Dark patches happen due to mould that is caused due to rain splatter. You can easily clean it with a water mixed with bleach solution, using an old toothbrush. As far as the cracks in logs are concerned, you can easily seal them with the help of sealants.
Refinishing of the logs: Proper log cabin maintenance includes the routine cleaning, repair and refinishing of the log material. If the stain finish has already faded, you need to re-stain the log material. It is essential to do this in order for the logs to appear polished. Staining will protect the logs from extreme weather conditions like harsh sunrays and heavy rains.
Doors and windows: Doors and windows are also important parts of wooden garages and need to be checked for improper settling. When windows and doors do not close properly, they may have to be reworked or replaced including the jambs.
Fireplaces and mantels should be checked: There is always the chance for leaks to happen as it is natural for logs to move due to pressure. You should check inside corners for drafts where heat can escape. There are hardly any perfect corners especially when no suitable tools are available. As a result, old cabins are generally affected by corner leak problems.
Trim down the trees and shrubs around the wooden garage regularly. As they have the ability to hold water and can create moisture retention problems.
Add new features: As you are doing your regular maintenance, you should also consider the functionality and features of your wooden garage. You can build shelves to store your vehicles’ tools and you can make space to accommodate more stuff that you want to keep near you don’t want in your living room or they need to be out of the reach of children. This kind of stuff can include anything like old furniture or pesticides or lots of other things.
