Logs, with their rustic beauty and reputation of hardiness and longevity, are a choice building material for sturdy, dependable homes. However, such sturdiness as a building material can make it easy to forget that wood faces a whole host of natural enemies. Luckily, innovative stains and sealants provide critical protection from such threats, safeguarding wood's aesthetics, performance and durability as a home building material.
So, what are logs' greatest adversaries? Knowing what you're up against is the first step to ensuring you select the right products to protect your investment and log home lifestyle.
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How to Protect Against... Weather
Sunlight and water have a mixed relationship with wood. As a tree grows and matures, sunshine and water help nurture and strengthen it, keeping it in good health. However, once a mature tree becomes a log and is no longer living, UV exposure and moisture become wood's nemesis.UV exposure discolors wood, turning it into an ashy gray color. If water seeps into the log, the wood will begin to rot and crumble. Furthermore, this is the exact environment in which fungus thrives, expediting the decomposition process. Without protection, a beautiful log home will lose its aesthetic appeal and its structural integrity will weaken, significantly shortening the home's durability and longevity.
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Stains and sealants are the prescription for longevity. With your log home representing years of dreaming and planning as well as a significant financial investment, you need products that care about your home as much as you do. That's why Perma-Chink's Lifeline system is a little different. Lifeline products consist of a stain color followed by a clear coat. These products work together, enhancing performance. The stain adds color, or you can match it to your log home's natural color. Lifeline Advance is a topcoat that maximizes the stain's durability while minimizing homeowner maintenance costs and labor. Not only does Lifeline Advance contain UV protection, but it also brings depth and luster to a home's logs. Lifeline Advance comes in satin or glossy finish.
The pigment in Perma-Chink's Lifeline products is unique, allowing the grain's unique character to show through the color. This is true even after reapplication years later. For a stylish touch, Lifeline Accents is a formulated stain with a heavier pigment that provides a striking offset color for fascia or door and window trims. These areas need protection too!
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It's important to note that all Perma-Chink's Lifeline products are flexible and breathable. Think of the system as a performance athletic fabric, letting moisture escape while preventing water molecules from entering. This is particularly important for new construction. Manufacturers do their best to dry the logs, but there is always a risk of newer logs having a higher moisture content.
How to Protect Against... Pests
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Moisture and UV light aren't the only things that attack a home. Any wood structure — conventional, timber frame or log construction — should be defended against fungus and wood-ingesting insects. Borate products, like Armor-Guard (a powder you mix with water) and Shell-Guard (ready-to-use), are preservatives that protect timbers from wood-boring insects that ingest the fibers, like termites and wood-boring beetles (carpenter dees don't ingest wood). It also serves as a preventative against fungi that cause log rot.
Borates should be applied to clean, bare wood before any finishes, sealants or caulking is applied. After cleaning your newly constructed log home with Log Wash is the ideal time.
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How to Protect Against... Deck Damage
Decks are treasured amenities for log homes, elevating the curb appeal and providing inviting outdoor living spaces. But with their horizontal orientation, decks are particularly prone to water damage. Deck Defense is an environmentally friendly, water-based wood finish that penetrates like oil and is ideal for decks, railings and posts.
The end of logs are often overlooked, yet are a highly vulnerable place for water damage. Left exposed, wood's xylem cells will siphon water from the top of the post deep into the interior. Fortunately, a quick application of Log End Seal offers an effective line of defense against deterioration.
Finally, if you're working with an older home that's already been treated with oil, Log & Timber Defense works as a penetrating product that gets into the wood fibers and hardens into a lattice, strengthening the fibers and inhibiting mold and mildew. And unlike oil, this product is environmentally friendly and much easier to apply.
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Why not make your timber or log home one that lasts for years? Armed with Perma-Chink Systems products, water, UV light, fungus and even insects are no longer threats to your log home and will keep it looking like the dream you intended for today and many more tomorrows.
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