Right & Wrong

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sloppy caulking seems to be more and more common these days. It only takes a minute longer to “tool” it in and then clean up. Not only does it make the homeowner happy, but being installed properly will increase the life of caulked joint.

Had To Throw This In

    

 

 

 

 

 

I told her to smile, not stick out her tongue.

Short Story About Our Fireplace Insert

        

 

 

 

 

 

When we did our log home restoration, we installed a wood burning insert in the fireplace. It does a really good job and can heat most of the house. It has two blowers on thermostats and it can be “chocked” down to burn all night.

The best thing about it is the fact that in 1999 when Floyd blew through, our other house was completely under water except for about 2 feet of the top of the roof and it stayed like that for 6 days! (That is how we got our log home). The good thing was it was fresh water from the river, not salt water.

Needless to say we lost many of our belongings, but we also saved alot. The insert was one item we saved. After the water subsided, we washed all the mud out and flushed the electric motors with fresh water, let dry out for about 3 weeks, plugged it in and it still works today. 

We saved many other items as well. A TV, pictures, VCR’s, several appliances and almost all of my power tools.  It is a shame the talking heads were telling everybody…”all is distroyed and contaminated”. But done properly, alot of people could of saved a whole lot more than they did. 

That is one expereince that will always be remembered. It was bad at the time, but looking back, God blessed us in so many ways!

On The Inside

 

 

 

 

 

 

During our log home restoration, we did extensive renovation to the exterior and also to the interior. Actually, it was more my wife and her ideas that did the interior decorating.

When we bought our log home, it was pretty plain on the inside, that is until my wife got to work.  Starting in the kitchen, the cabinets were light maple, the countertops were butcherblock and the ceiling is textured.

To give it a more “cozy” look, she put ceramic tile over the butcherblock. The cabinets were darkened by using a propane torch and lightly charring the wood and then applying a mahogany gel stain. The ceiling beams are 1×6 western red cedar attacthed to 2×4 blocks stained with a walnut oil based stain. The island was an old dresser that was modified and is setting on 2×4 blocks ( because I never finished it) and the “stuff”, well you will have to talk to my wif about that. I think she made a deal with a certian restaurant.  Staye tuned for more “On The Inside”.

Zebra Stripes?

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have ever used a pressure washer and left marks or zebra strips on your sidewalk, driveway or deck, then you know it takes some skill and experenice to do it right. Most professional wood restoration contractors use “surface cleaners”. They do a much better job than a pressure washing wand because of the circular motion used to do the cleaning. With more uniform results, the surface cleaner used properly will not leave start and stop marks as does a pressure washer wand. It also makes the job faster and if it is a large job, it can reduce back fatigue.

On this deck, we used hot water to help aid in the stripping process of a latex stain. It was cold weather and the hot water helped activate the stripper.

Cedar T-111

This cedar T-111 home was stained with a comsumer grade product from the local big box store. Two years later the stain had failed, mildew was spreading and water damage was taking it’s toll. Much longer and we would have been doing wood replacement instead of wood restoration.

 We were able to do a light strip and neutralize then applied an oil sealer to the point of refusal and the wood was saved.

Keep Your Deck Sealed!

Quick Tip

Handrails weather fast. It don’t take long before you can see cupping, splitting, splintering and raised knots. You may even find a few nails that have worked out. If this sounds like your deck, there may be an easy fix that you can probably do yourself and it don’t cost much.

This will only work where there are no special cuts such as 45 degree corners or bevels. With a nail puller carefully remove the nails. You can usually get the nails up without too much damage. After the nails have been removed, just flip the board over and re-nail it or use deck screws. Most of the time the underside is in excellent condition. Now it would be best to pressure clean the handrail, let it dry and apply a quailty sealer.

Remember to inspect the handrails first to determine if it is possible to flip them before going through the trouble and finding out that the cuts won’t allow it.

Thats it. This won’t work in all cases, but when it does, it is a quick fix, easy and the only cost is a few nails or better yet, deck screws.

Neutralizing Wood: An Important Step Often Ignored