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Every log home owner will sooner or later familiarize themselves with the following products: chinking, log caulking and log stains. Owning a home made of logs can be very rewarding but it does take some time and effort to keep your dream home looking the way it looked when you moved into it. The most important thing to remember is to do your homework before applying any material to your logs. Once you begin this process, it becomes difficult to change your direction.

Chinking may be required to seal the joints in your logs or you may choose to use it for aesthetic purposes. Chinking is designed to stand out from your wood which is why it has a heavy texture. The most common colors used are mortar white and buff.

Almost all log homes require caulking. Typically, checks or cracks in your wood that are 1/4” or greater and face upwards should be filled with some type of sealant material. I would recommend a product called Conceal caulking. It is very easy to apply and has just a light amount of texture in order to mimic the grain of your wood. Also, most corners of your home will eventually require log caulking because these areas typically get the most movement.

Log stains vary quite a bit and there are quite a few available. I would recommend choosing a stain that is made for log homes. Typically, these products will weather better and you will have a greater chance of compatibility with your chinking and caulking materials.

It is important to select the right finishing products to protect your logs because they will dictate how well your home will weather. Also, it is important to remember that you typically get what you pay for. Most good log stains, cabin caulkings and log chinking materials will cost more than your average sealant materials but they will save you money in the long run. Finally, check with your log home manufacturer, builder, application contractor and finishing material supplier in regards to the above products. These people should be a good resource for getting the right answers to your difficult questions.

A stain is one of the many things to which a cleaning granite process must be directed to. It can cause damages to the surface in various levels of extremities. Similar with stain removal to other materials and surfaces, cleaning granite stains can range from being simple to being quite a handful.

As you might have already known, granite is used in a number of areas in houses. It can be seen used a wall or as a flooring. And most popularly, it is used as kitchen counters. These house parts are often exposed to many things, stains being one of them. Especially if there are children, there is quite a high possibility of them being stained.

However, granite surface being stained is not really something to go fuzzy or panicky about. It is always a possibility and can even be considered as an almost natural occurrence. It should not be a problem as there are cleaning products out there that can assist you. That is unless you don’t know how to effectively deal with it and cause it to produce further and more negative effects.

To avoid the worst case scenario that stains can lead to, it is important to know how to carry out the cleaning granite process. And that should not just any kind of process but one that is truly effective. Otherwise, every bit of what you have spent for it, from your personal effort to get it implemented to your time and to your money, will all go to waste.

Of course, getting a process done effectively will take more than what is usually needed. Same thing goes with cleaning granite. You will need more knowledge, more time, more money and greater effort to get it effective. Nevertheless, all of it is worth it as every bit of them brings you closer to achieving the best effects.

Aside from getting everything that the process needs ready though, its steps must also be made sure to be efficiently implemented. To simply put it, the effectiveness of cleaning granite stains will not be complete with them being mistakenly implemented even if you have the best granite cleaner in the market. And so to help you get clean granite stains more effectively, here are the two points that you should always remember.
Stains can be caused by a lot of things. That means that they have different characteristics which further means that they may require different steps to be removed. There are stains that can be produced by organic things like food and food ingredients. Others can be caused by chemical substance. Rust can also stain granite. To effectively clean granite from any of these specific stains, you must know the steps especially directed to them. Along with the basic steps of the process, those must then be efficiently carried out. Stains harden over time. The longer you let it stay on the granite the deeper it can set on the surface and the harder it will be for them to be removed. And so to avoid the additional work and probably even additional spending, clean granite stains as soon as it happens.

Never thought you would come across a mildew stain? Well today is the day. Mildew stains are ever thought about, but usually occur is almost everyone’s home. Make sure to read through these steps on how to remove mildew and also some tips where you can find mildew in your home.

In order to remove mildew, make sure the first thing you do is to remove all the excess debris from the area, including the mildew part. Next, make a mixture solution of one half cup of bleach and one gallon of water. This mixture should be placed into a spray bottle of some type of bottle where it can be applied onto the mildew stain.

After that main step is complete, apply the mixture to the area where the mildew is growing. Use a toothbrush or other type of brush to scrub away the mildew or mold from the area affected. Make sure you rinse the stained area after the spray part. Be cautious of the stain. Keep an eye on it so it will not come back. This easy solution will take care of the job. Keep spraying it on the area until the stain is completely gone.

Mildew can be found in everyone’s home. Take a look at the places below on where to find the mildew in your house:

1. Your bathroom. The most places with the mildew are the shower or tub because water is used the most there.

2. Your sink. These areas that are not cleaned as often are the first place you would find mildew, especially behind the faucet.

3. Your kitchen. The areas, again, that are usually wet the most, or just even wet such as the sink.

4. The basement is the largest place for the growth of mildew because it is the bottom of the house and there is moisture growing somewhere down there.

5. The refrigerator. The foods that are going bad and also spills that are hidden from you in the fridge.

How do we measure sustainability?

The government measures VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) in products to determine the effect they have on the environment (which includes the atmosphere, people and vegetation). VOCs are vapours or gases emitted by various solids or liquids, many of which have short and long term adverse health effects.

How many types of wood stain are there?

There are three generally accepted types:

Where To Start When Renovating an Older-Style Home

The Interior: Things to Note:

Water Stains – stains can be found most commonly in these two places, ceilings and floors. Ceilings usually indicate a leaky roof and that the whole ceiling will need to be replaced. Floors mean either the ceiling has leaked so much onto the floor that now the floor is warped, or that a pipe from a bathroom, water heater, or kitchen is broken. If a pipe is broken, it could mean tearing out the walls to find the source, and if you don’t find it right away, the cost to find it adds up and up and up.

Sloping Floors – walk into the home and take a good look at the floors. You will be able to see slopes easily by looking at the baseboards and the floors relation to them. Walk on them and you can tell if you go downhill. Start thinking of foundation problems, or settling issues. We have even seen supporting beams cut to put a pipe through, thus causing floors to sag under the unsupported weight.

Charred Attic Trusses – many historic homes used coal fireplaces instead of wood. The burning embers would sometimes leak through chimney mortar and cause attic fires. In the home above, during the inspection we found a 2200 square foot third level was completely charred. The good news was that by speaking with neighbors, the fire had been 60 years before and the wood was so thick that the fire barely affected the structural integrity. You might not be so lucky and find the damage was so great that the entire truss structure must be replaced.

Original Plumbing & Wiring – if the home still has cast iron pipes and the original electrical system, then you are in for a huge cost to replace these items. But to do a project right and to keep the old wiring from burning the house down, they really need to be replaced. For a 4000 square foot home, it might cost you $15,000 for the electrical and another $15,000 for the plumbing, and that is just to install it. It doesn’t include building the bathrooms, or installing fixtures.

Wall and Trim Paint – take a good look at the paint on trim and determine how thick it is. Over the last hundred years there is no telling how many coats have been applied and how much of it is lead based paint. Lead based paint is a health hazard if ingested, especially by young children. It is best to get rid of all paint in the home through stripping (a timely & costly process). But once the original wood is revealed, sanded, and stained, the value of the home has greatly increased in the eye’s of a buyer.

Cracks in the Walls – if you see alot of cracks in the walls, beware! Most likely the walls are the original plaster and have been taped repeatedly over the years. As soon as you go to hang a picture with a nail, the “walls will come tumbling down”. Replacing the plaster is expensive as most likely you will have to use thicker Sheetrock and account for the higher ceilings. Sometimes the cracks are also a sign of settling issues or structural problems. Best to have a contractor take a look at it to assess any problems.

Cracked Windows, Rotten Sashes, Broken Pulleys – if the original windows are still in the home, make sure to open each window. Check for rotten wood around the frame and on the sashes and cracked windows. If the window won’t open, chances are the rope pulleys are broken and need to be repaired. See the costs starting to add up?

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Stains on the carpet are one thing we all do not want. But it seems like it is impossible to have ever stain-free carpet. You will have to deal with stains on the carpet all the time. Carpets are of different quality and need individual attention for its cleaning. Therefore it is not always possible to call in a professional to clean even the smallest stain on your carpet. Instead there are some home remedies which you can follow to achieve a stain free carpet.

• Vinegar and water solution: Make a solution of one part of vinegar and one part of water. Pour it on the stain and let the carpet absorb the solution. Then using a sponge try to rub on the stain in a circular motion. Rinse with warm water and place a white paper towel on it till it dries.

• Ammonia: Make a solution with a tablespoon of ammonia with half a cup of water and use a spray bottle to spray this solution onto the stain. Use a tissue or a paper towel to blot in the liquid. Remember not to wet the backing of the carpet.

• Detergent solution: Make a solution of half a tablespoon of hand or dish soap with quarter cup of water. Remember that your soap should not have any bleach. Spray this on the stain and use a paper towel to blot dry the wet area.

• Lemon Juice: Lemon juice makes a good stain removal agent. Store lemon juice (with no added ingredient) in a bottle. Spray this onto the stain. Do not wet the padding of the carpet. Use a paper towel to dry the wet area.

A professional cleaning is always recommended by the carpet maker at least in a year. So be it!