Finish for exterior of Log Cabin

[Stan P]

Hello everyone,   

   It's been a while; I hope you are all good.  A couple of years ago Harley Rider and I (mostly him) built a log cabin out of white pine and eastern hemlock.  I am trying to figure out what we should finish the outside with. . I found a product called Land ark which is oil based and natural which sounds good, but I cannot find anyone who has used it on an exterior.  Does anyone have experience with this?  I know the old timers used pine tar and some even used motor oil.  I like the fact that the logs still have a nice light color, but would give some of that up to know the cabin is well preserved.  It is a hunting camp with an old Vermont Castings Defiant as the only luxury.  I wanted to find something that wouldnt require a lot of maintenance and was hopeing someone out there might have a suggestion.   

all the best

Stan

[clif]

I have a painter friend here in Alaska that finishes a lot of log homes.  He says the best system is the following:go to abrp.com there will be a store locator.  It is a 2 part system first you use the pre finish and then the x100 to finish.  If you have problems finding it let me know and I will get more info.  Clif

[Stan P]

thanks Clif.  I will check that out.  it looks interesting and is an oil based product.  It sounds like a lot of the others create a coat, where the land ark looks like it gets absorbed by the logs.  since this is a hunting camp, I don't want to be doing it over every 5 years.  my biggest concern is we treated it 2 years ago with Seasonite New wood defender which is a "Flood" product and water based.  I am wondering if I can put oil based over that.  any thoughts?  thanks.   Stan

[Raphael]

Hey Stan,
  I don't know if it'll absorb through your floor finish or not but if you want a small sample to test, I can provide it.
In fact we could probably meet you up there later on in the week as I need to see about borrowing Joel's floor sander soon.  We've got several gallons of concentrate and solvent to do our floors with.

[Stan P]

hi Raphael.

  hope you have been good.  I initially mistyped.  the seasonite is a product from Flood, not a floor product.   you have the abrp or the land ark?   Land ark has both interior and exterior product. which do you have?  how will we know if the stuff is actually getting absorbed?  tomorrow, we were going to spray the logs again with the borate salt solution  to put another preservative layer down.        thanks.  Stan

[HARLEYRIDER]

Rafe
ready to sand? I'll call ya.

[Raphael]

Stan,
  It's the Land Ark (interior), you'll know it's absorbing when the wood grain comes alive or I've got some in dark mission brown you could try in an inconspicuous place and then wipe and/or scrape to see if the pigment is penetrating at all.

Joel,
  Ready as we'll ever be..  ;)
We're off to NH this morning to visit Deb's Daughter and SIL.  We'll be back Tuesday evening, so we'll have to connect after that.

[Stan P]

Clif,   

   I did some more research and it seems as though ABR which makes the X-100 is a good bet.  I am going to use "Logevity"   as it has  mold, UV and insect protection.  I will let you know how I make out.  Land Ark seems interesting, but I had a hard time getting someone on the phone who could give me advice.  They could both be very good, but for the Logevity, I got a guy on the phone from WI who was very helpful.   I will report back.   By the way, probably two potential advertisers for the forestry forum.   all the best.
   Raphael.   maybe I should try that on the interior.  saw some photos and they look great. 

   Stan

[woodbowl]

I'll soon be needing to apply a finish as well. I've heard about Sikkens for about 25 years, but don't know any first hand info on it. Does anyone know about this product?