Today I have a DIY log home repair and maintenance tip that would probably get me in trouble with OSHA if I were in the business of repairing log homes. Fortunately, I’m just a private citizen with a blog and a couple of crafty ideas and I thought I’d share this one with you.
This has been my summer of deck maintenance and a few weeks ago I posted an article, “Our Log Home Deck Refinished“. A continuation of that same project is the subject of today’s post. While stripping and refinishing our deck, I discovered that a few of the horizontal railing sections were not holding up because some checking was permitting water to pool deep inside the rails. This moisture was causing these rails to rot from the inside – out.
The rails have to be replaced as they are too far gone to repair. However, I just don’t have the time to replace these sections and probably will not get to it until next spring. My challenge was… How do I get another year out of these rails and halt the water damage?
As I mentioned, OSHA won’t like this idea and all you professional log home restoration people will cringe, but I think I came up with a good temporary solution to my problem. It buys me time and improves the look of the railing – until I can get around to replacing it. Rather than reprint everything here, click over to our DIY area and see, “A Log Railing Quick-Fix“.
The best way I found to seal up the check is to put backer rod in them and put a caulking that either Sashco makes or Weatherall makes. I fill a ton of checks up all the time because of my infrared imaging on log homes. Take a look at my site http://www.loghomerepairinfo.com and see the pictures, they tell the story.
This is like trying to plug a sinking ship. Inevitably the rails will have to be replaced. A lot of this has to do with the wood species. We manufacture all of our log railings from northern white cedar because they are guaranteed against rot and decay. We replace jobs such as this frequently. Check us out at http://www.rockytoplogfurniture.com, we would be glad to help.
Roger that, this was hardly a permanent solution…just buying some time