Does your log home need a wash or a strip?

Washing a log home costs a fraction of stripping it. So the first honest question on any quote is whether stripping is necessary at all.

The two-minute test

Pick the worst south or west wall. Run a thumbnail firmly across the finish.

• It marks but stays intact — the film is bonded. You likely need a clean and a maintenance coat.
• It powders — the finish is chalking. Sometimes recoverable with a wash and recoat, depending on product.
• It flakes or lifts — the bond has gone. A new coat will fail with the old one still under it.

The water test

Splash water on the wall. Beading means the finish is still working. Soaking in and darkening means the surface is open.

The grey test

If the wood itself is silver-grey where the finish has gone, that is degraded wood fibre, not dirt. Washing removes what is on top and leaves the grey behind, because the grey is the surface of the wood.

If washing would fix it, we will tell you to wash it. Doing an unnecessary strip is how you lose a customer for the next twenty years.

The answer differs across the service area. A lakeside cabin at Elkwater weathers differently to a log home on open ground near Seven Persons, and differently again to one sheltered in the valley in Medicine Hat.