Enhancing Your Home’s Aesthetic with Textured Logs

Chelsea BingamanLog Homeowner Education

Before and After Log Siding
Smooth milled logs by log supplier

Whether in a log house in the country or the city, you can achieve this rustic log house appearance. In the past few years, the appeal of a log home has been on the rise. The beauty of a log home is a common attraction for many would-be homesteaders.

Most log home builders offer custom packages so you can choose the finish. Creating your desired texture can be achieved using a surface conditioning tool before staining a log home. If you love the home you’re living in but want it to look like a log home, log siding is an affordable option.

Log siding can give any home a log home appearance

A log home is a huge responsibility that only specific individuals can handle. The costs of maintenance supplies, equipment, labor, and repairs can be significant. However, if you own a house not made of logs, log siding is a great way to add aesthetic appeal to your outdated exterior. Log siding is easy to install and mimics real siding in texture and appearance. As a result, maintaining it is often less expensive than maintaining an authentic log house. To see log siding, check out Allpine Lumber Company’s selection.

A Reason to Choose Smooth-Milled Logs

If you’re looking to buy a log home, there’s a chance you’d prefer a different surface than the logs’ surface. As many log homeowners say, dusting cobwebs or cleaning can be tricky with hand-sewn or rough-sawn logs. Instead, most log homeowners opt to have smooth-milled logs on the interior and exterior. Many smooth logs have a small amount of texture (see picture above).

Regular Maintenance is Vital

This log siding is way overdue for maintenance and will likely need restoration. In addition, the wood surface is exposed to moisture intrusion. This moisture can be a breeding ground for insects and mold.

All log homes and log sided homes need regular maintenance. To improve your log home appearance, clean it twice a year after spring and autumn. Watch for faded or peeling areas that expose the wood surface to weather elements. With the use of a steak skewer, tap the logs to test the density. If the skewer goes in further than 1/4 inch, you may have unseen log rot. Learn more in Checking for Log Rot and Insect Infestation – How to Check for Yourself!

Log Home Stain Maintenance Helps Avoid Costly Repairs

We highly recommend regular maintenance to avoid lot rot. However, only some heed this advice. Customers in high-humidity climates should have stain maintenance every 2-3 years. Customers in low-humidity climates, every 3-5 years. Make sure to watch your walls with direct sun. More frequent maintenance is necessary. Your log cabin restoration can be very costly if you ignore regular maintenance.

What works for you?

While authentic log cabins are not for everyone, anyone can live in a home that looks like a log home. So if you own a log home, but not fond of the log texture, ask your log home builder or restoration company if there is a creative alternative. To be clear, there are very few alternate textures on log houses, however, there are exceptions. Yours might be the exception. To conclude, whatever your budget, you can improve the aesthetics of the outside of your home to look like a textured log cabin.