Mann Home Restoration | Mississippi River, Western Tennessee
Situated along the Mississippi River in western Tennessee, Jerry and Dorothy Mann’s 14 year old log home was starting to look ragged. It was originally stained with a single coat of Sashco’s water-based Capture® Log Stain in Natural and Cascade® Clear Coat back in 2002 when construction was finished. Then, life went on and years passed by. Jerry noticed some discoloration on the sun-exposed sides of the home after about five years but didn’t think too much about it.
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This month we’re talking about building a nice butt. Nope, not that kind of butt. We mean butt-joints! Our very own log home expert, Paul Peebles is sharing some of his very best tips from the field to help you build a better butt-joint.
By Paul Peebles, Southeast Territory Manager (and log home owner who knows a thing or two about butt joints)
We need to have a talk about your butts.
No, not those butts — I mean butts in log homes, sometimes called butt-joints. These things cause a lot of trouble in the log home business because, too often, they are not designed correctly. That’s a problem because a poorly designed butt-joint can allow water and bugs into your home or behind the log siding, leading to rot and insect infestations. Yuck. After decades in the industry, I have found that close to 90% of water damage and rot are caused by leaky butt-joints. In most cases, when I have been called to a home that leaks water, I have found that it is the butt-joints that leaked — sometimes for years! The problem begins when builders butt two logs tightly together during construction. It looks tight, so it must be right, right? We all know that after a couple of years, the logs shrink, opening up those joints, and this lets in the water. Bad situation! One common indication that this has occurred is a little bit of daylight showing from inside the home. Follow these easy steps for effective butt-joint repair.
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