Maintaining Your Log Siding: Common Problems and How to Avoid Them

Log siding is known for being easier to maintain than traditional log cabin homes. Since modern log siding often comes pre-finished or pre-treated, routine maintenance is fairly simple. From yearly inspections to reapplying protective finishes, it’s still important to understand what you need to do to keep your home’s exterior looking its best.

Insects

Insects are attracted to moisture and can eat away at the protective finish on your log siding. Certain types of wood naturally pool in more moisture, making them more susceptible to insect damage. Avoiding materials like red pine and opting for a wood that is less prone to sap bleed like white pine can eliminate a swarm of bug damage. For this reason, our kiln-dried exterior log siding is offered in White Pine, Cedar, barn wood, and Adirondack. When doing your maintenance check-up, look for holes on your siding, sawdust piles near the holes, or discolored peeling around holes to detect signs of insect damage.

Moisture

Unfortunately, moisture is inevitable. Wood absorbs the damp, humid air, welcoming wood rot and insects, especially if there is leakage or poor ventilation. Log siding panels close to the soil tend to pull in more moisture which is important to note as you inspect your home every year. Kiln-dried wood is the best way to eliminate moisture. At WoodHaven, our log siding is kiln-dried at a lower moisture content than anybody else, so you can avoid intensive upkeep.

Moisture can also cause warping and shrinking over time. That’s why it’s important to choose wood paneling that has good stability. Stability in wood helps to keep wooden panels straight. White Pine combats this issue as it offers greater stability, making it less prone to disfiguration. Yearly inspections are still important to addressing any issues. Thankfully, with wood siding, it’s much easier to replace faulty panels before the problem spreads.

Sunlight (UV Rays)

Over time, prolonged exposure to sunlight can discolor and disfigure certain log siding materials. Washing your log siding every year and making sure to check how your stain is holding up can protect your siding from the effects of sunlight and moisture. Clean logs naturally breathe better, allowing them to dry out. By cleaning your siding, you can also remove spores that can result in mold. Eventually, you will have to re-stain your wood siding, and cleaning them is a necessary step in preparation. Cleaning wood siding is fairly simple. You can hose off your siding on a sunny day so the wood can dry out completely. The pressure from the hose should be enough, but if you have concerns, you can mix it with a mild detergent diluted in water like dish soap or vinegar.

Researching your log siding material’s performance can ultimately affect its longevity and performance in the long run. Although these problems are naturally occurring, there are still ways you can prevent them from doing major damage. Looking for discoloration, peeling, insect damage, and warping in your check-up will help you figure out when you need to re-stain or reduce faulty panels. By developing a yearly maintenance routine, you can save yourself time and money.