Restoring old logs

[Rob30]

The time has come to start thinking about restoring my log house. After much debating we have decided to disassemble our house and reassemble it. It is a 200 year old settlers home, with dovetailed corners. The plan is to reassemble with a post and beam addition, it is currently only 960 sqft. When done it should be better because we can modernize the electrical, pluming and  heat etc. Plus any rotten logs can be replaced. My question is what is the best method of cleaning and restoring the logs? I want any new logs to match as much as possible, and want to be able to refinish the old logs. We may add a course of logs to heighten the ceilings as well. I have seen people pressure wash the logs, sand blast logs, hand sand the logs. Any experienced ideas?

[Brad_bb]

What kind of wood is it?  What does it look like now?  What do you want it to look like?  These questions will help determine if Wheel brushing, log wash, or sanding is needed.  As far as finishing products, Perma-chink seems to be the people to look to.  I've used their stain and clear on interior woodwork.  I rolled and back brushed the stain, but sprayed the clear with an airless sprayer.

[TW]

When we shifted roughly half the number of logs in a 320 years old granary we just left them to weather. After 4 years oiut in the weather the new logs are already starting to blend in and I rekon they wil blend in very well in another 4 or 5 years.
This is one surprising side of weathering. It isn't very noticeable how weathered each log is as long as they are all weathered.

Another important side of it is that the new logs should be fitted using the same methods as the old ones. If the old ones are barked with a drawknife the new ones should also be. If the old ones are scribe fitted the new ones should also be. If the old ones are hewn the old ones should also be.

If you are going to shift rotten logs in the lower part of the building you should make height marks on the lowermost sound course before disassembling the house. The height marks could be galvanized 4 inch nails driven in flush. When you then reassemble the house on top of the new sill logs you can adjust the new logs to make the heigh marks level and then the house goes up straight and level on top of that.
If the house has settled or sunk in one end you can measure down from the top of the plate log and put your height marks at an even distance from the top of the plate log. When you reassemble and make your height marks level your plate will also become level.

If the house is scribe fitted it shouldn't be chinked. When scribe fitting new logs into an old wall the new log must be quite a bit thicker than you think at first as you loose some height when scribe fitting it to the log below and even more height when you whittle it down on top to fit the long groove of the log above.

When replacing lots of rotten logs in one wall and not in the others in a scribe fitted building the new wall section will settle more than the other walls. It takes a few years for the new timber to fully dry out. Therefore it is a good idea to make the new wall section a little bit too high. When using Finnish spruce I have found 5 cm extra height per metre height of new wall to be just about right for green timber. For one year dried timber I find 2 cm extra height per metre to be a good assumption. The oldtimers said that when the new timber has dried 2-3 years it doesn't settle more than old reassembled walls do.
I sticker the timber with 2x2 and put up a temporary tin roof over it when I dry timber for log house repairs.

Good luck!

[Rob30]

The dovetailed house we have is chinked. I do not believe any scribing is required. I plan to make a pattern of the average dovetail to ensure it is close to the same as the current corners. I do have plans to do significant changes to the house including a large addition. I have considered letting the logs weather until they match, but I am not sure of the final look I am going for. I plan on having a large overhang and porch around the house so weathering may take a while. The addition will be approximately 20x20 with visible post and beams. As I said it is a small settlers house, the addition will be a new south facing living room with many windows.

[TW]

You cannot use a pattern for the dovetails when repairing an old building. They are all different.
I find it rather straightforward to scribe fit the dovetails. With that method you will get a perfect fit between new and old.