Pawpaw Holler Home

The other I day I mentioned that I had been bleaching the logs in our add-on. Penny asked me why I was bleaching the logs.

Was anyone else wondering why?

I guess you wouldn’t know why logs are bleached, unless you’re involved in building log homes – so I’ll tell you all why it’s done.

When logs have set for any length of time, they start to discolor or “weather”. If they’re stacked or under plastic, they will mold. The logs will also get moldy after they’re put up, if the roof doesn’t get put on right away and it rains a lot.

So, the logs are bleached and the weathering and mold disappears. Sometimes they’re bleached several times, depending on how bad the discoloration is.

We had to do some dry scrubbing first.

The bleach is diluted half and half in a pressure sprayer (a spray bottle will work, also), and there’s a certain way to do it – you start at the bottom and work up. If you work from the top down, you’ll have drip marks.

It’s best to bleach the logs before the roof goes on, because of the fumes. One feller we know bleached a cabin after the roof was on – and ended up in the hospital with pneumonia! Even though our roof wasn’t on and the windows not in, I still put a fan out there while I was bleaching. (If you have to work inside; I would open every window and door in the house, set up some fans and work on small sections at a time.)

Our logs have been setting a while and I bleached them three times. There are a few dark places, still yet, but Lacy says the sander will take those out.

Looks a lot better, don’t ya think?

Note: Bleach can also be used on discolored and stained decks, driveways, outdoor furniture, siding, fences, etc.

Now you know what to do with discolored wood.

Blessings,

Denese

Photo credit: First five photos by Abby D.

Tags: holler livin', our cabin

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 10:03 am and is filed under Frugal living, My Home And Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.