If you're keen on building a log home, and you don't have an unlimited budget, you can save yourself a lot of money by doing your own sanding and staining. This job is not for the faint of heart, especially if there there 2 stories. The height of our front peak, above the walk out basement, is close to 35 feet. The back peak, above the driveway is a comparatively short 25 feet. By far the hardest part is sanding. Every inch has to be sanded and while it could be all done with a ladder, a good set of staging is the way to go. Even with staging we had to strap an extension ladder to top section to reach the peak. Why sand? I've heard arguments for and against sanding. Bottom line, if it's a milled log, it will have a heat glaze on the outer surface and the glaze will limit, but not prevent, stain absorbtion. We chose to sand to get maxinum stain penetration. It's hard work, however the level of satisfaction through personal contribution is extremely gratifying and well worth the effort. A small tip on the seletion of a sander and sand paper. Don't cheap out, go for a good palm sander like a Dewalt or something of equilvalent value. For paper, use 60 grit, not 80 as often recommended.
The actual stain that we used was Sashco Transformation. Color was 'golden tone medium'. We had originally selected the 'golden tone light', however settled on the medium for the extra UV protection. It looks great after two coats. We used brushes. I suppose you could use a sprayer, however the stain will run and someone will have follow along to brush out the runs. It took approximately 7 gallons for the first coat and 5 gallons for the second. Each 5 gallon container was treated with insect repellent to prevent nesting and infestations.
We also have to stain the interior and plan to use a polyurethane. However that's another story.
Later.
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