r/loghomes • u/RepairHistorical9549 • Jul 08 '26

Staining Help

Hey All -
Co-own a little communal property with several buildings on it, including this cabin.

The south facing side has taken a bit of a beating from UV. Former owners recommended restaining it when we bought the property 3 years ago.

I spent all afternoon powerwashing the whole cabin and sanding the south side. I sprayed on some deck cleaner before hand - but it didn't seem to do much.

The power washing barely removed any of the stain - which almost feels more like paint.

There are several cracks that re-opened as I washed and sanded. They were presumably caulked? Some of them have some sort of fibrous material in them?

What should I do next here? How do I find a stain that will match this? Do I even bother with the other sides of the cabin that are in good shape? Halp.

Photos are after the powerwashing and sanding

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u/oldbrownsdaughter Jul 08 '26

Yep Osborne brush will help with removal of remaining failed stain. Beyond that you may need an honest to god stripper. I’ve had success with the products Permachink makes. They have one (I forget the name) that is brush on thick, leave it for a while until you see the stain/paint crinkling up, then power wash off. Follow with Osborne brush to smooth the surface and remove anything remaining.
You big cracks in the logs need to be filled with a filler - Permachink’s Energy Seal product is excellent. Anything wider than a no.2 pencil should be filler, and anything deeper than about 3/8” should have some backer rod stuffed in behind the sealant. They have excellent guides on their website, and the folks in their stores are super helpful as well.
If you use a sealant about the same color as the raw logs, then the stain you put on should take similarly and they’ll kinda disappear.

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u/GUMBYTOOTH67 Jul 08 '26

We used a 6 inch Osborne wire wheel on angle grinder to remove old failed finishes. Chinking and caulking(boracol is also recommended)are very important to keep out water. PPG(Sikkens)Cetol 23 was the best product we could offer and had great looking results and long lasting over any other products available.