Hi Guys, this summer i'm planning on chinking and staining the cabin. The logs were cut in June 07 (my time sure flies by fast) and was wondering what should be done to the logs.
I met up with Stephen1 a few weeks ago and he was telling me that the logs should be bleach as it opens up the poors to accept the stain.
I've got to chink the cabin first.
How should i plan this?
1. Bleach (let dry a few weeks) (next weekend)
2. Chink (let dry for how long???)
3. Stain
Your thoughts? all this will probrably bring me into late August!
Thanks
Sbishop
I don't know how bleach could do anything to "open up pores" to accept stain. However, bleach will kill any mold that is present and clean up the logs, which may help how well the stain covers and looks.
Are the logs moldy now, dark/black areas, or have some blue stain?
Sounds like a good summer project.
Beenthere, no mold or blue stain.....but some of them are dark/black with woodpecker holes! >:( :D
I think Stephen1 said that bleaching the logs would help accepting the stain.
Bleach will just cleanup the discoloration from fungus in the sapwood. It's not going to help the wood except the staining any easier. Stain is formulated for the application on wood to begin with.
I'm not sure what type of wood your bleaching. I did my white ceader a couple of years ago, don't quote me on this but, I'm pretty sure my mixture was 3 parts water to 1 part bleach and a table spoon of TSP. Scrub the logs with the mixture using a brush, (used a old curling brush horse hair, I think) scrub well then rinse with water before it dries, do a 5-6 foot section at a time. I tried diffrent mixtures of bleach and water. this seemed to be the best blend, more than that it starts doing nasty stuff to the wood fibers.
Once the log has dried then you will have to sand it as the wood fibers tips tend to curl up, you'll see this after they dry.
I would contact the chinking company your dealing with to see what they say about the order you go with.
good luck
bic
i believe there is some controversy about what bleaching does to wood fibers. perhaps you need a wood brightener or cleaner. google will turn them up.
Quote from: 1938farmall on May 17, 2011, 02:08:08 PM
i believe there is some controversy about what bleaching does to wood fibers. perhaps you need a wood brightener or cleaner. google will turn them up.
They would also be bleach. ;)
Just more expensive bleach.
:D Yup
I've been told.....Oxalic acids leave more color in the wood while chlorine bleach can blond the wood. If this happens, you may need to apply a pigmented finish to re-color the wood..... A moot point in any case since the op says he is re-staining anyway.