Oct 02 2008
Bleaching Logs Before Staining
Part of my job this past week has been to get our log walls back into shape before staining and top coat.
I’ve chosen a pickled white, or white wash look for the interior look of our home. As a family we chose a stain called Sandalwood for the exterior.
Both are light stains, but the Sandalwood is a warmer hue that brings out the veins of color in the wood while overall giving the exterior walls a warm and gentle tone.
As you may have read in an earlier post of mine, the logs are stained by the floor joists above them and/or the decking screws, as well as our hands and boots while we worked on building the home.
So I’ve been bleaching them to bring them back to their original beauty.
Some are as bad as the photos I shot for you today – below.
One pass over the logs with 1/3 bleach solution (no scrubbing yet) brings the logs back this much (below). The top log hasn’t been touched by bleach yet. Another scrub and perhaps a sand is required to bring them back fully to their original beauty.
We are on Vancouver Island, and have a panabode log home. I want to paint teh kitchen a pickled white or green. Do you know how to do this? Is it just applying a watered down latex? or does it have to be an oil base? I would be happy to hear from you.
Sophie
[...] If you read earlier, the logs were packed with creosote soaked stickers (allowing space to cure and dry, but transfering their black marks deep into the logs in the process). To remove the marks and other marks when the roof hasn’t been closed in for months, a serious clean up is required. I opted for bleach but puritans would suggest other methods as bleach is hard on any organic surface. (See the marked logs and before and after bleach photos here.) [...]
Hi Sophie! I picked up a pickled white, water based stain to do the interior logs last year and just got around to applying it this past weekend. It looks fantastic!
The stain has a UV protection added to it so that sunlight streaming through those big log home windows don’t alter the color of the stain or wood over time.
Two water-based coats of stain, plus a tough water based sealant and you’re good to go. I love the white-wash (which is essentially the pickled white look) as it brightens up your entire home and enhances the wood’s natural appearance.