Your AnnRuel Home Inspections yearly log home Inspection

Here is what We offer in our Annual Log Home Inspections….
It is very important to have yearly inspections professionally performed and to keep an inspection log for your home. It is vitally important to keep a good maintenance log of your home listing all materials purchased for maintenance, any updates or improvements made to the home and all dates as well as who performed each service. These should all be kept in a loose bound binder often provided by the Builder.
1) Are there any logs contacting foliage, organic mulch, or the ground within 18 inches from the home? We look for any landscaping that may have grown up against the house or soil grade that has become too close to the sill (bottom) log.
2) We perform an adhesion test where we Press a piece of masking tape onto the log ensuring good adhesion and after pressing it on hard wait 3 minutes. Next we rip it off. If a lot of stain came off with the tape we recommend you should remove the finish before applying anything new. We try this in a few different spots as some areas wear faster than others. This takes an experienced eye to know how much is too much.
3) We look to see if there are any discolored areas. Does it seem to be underneath or above of the finish. If it’s under the finish we recommend for you to remove the finish to get at it. If it is on top you can clean it off and seal over the old sealant which is the most common. Some issues are created from an improper PH balance
4) Now we take a water spray bottle and spray down areas of the wall to see if the sealant is properly repelling the water. If it beads up and rolls of or quickly drips off it is fine. If it soaks in then there is a problem with the sealant
5) With a rubber mallet, we tap of the wood listening to listen to hear any hollow spots and use a moisture pin meter to check that the wood is within acceptable levels.
6) Inspect all Chinking for cracks or peeling away from the log
7) We inspect the interior with thermal imaging (IR Camera) to detect air and moisture issues.
8) Looking for signs of any insect holes, sawdust or insect debris. All log homes will have a few insect holes, but most, not all, insects are only interested in wood that has high moisture content. Many times you may find a hole where a insect who was in the tree and just wants to leave the wood for greener pastures.
9) We check for any soft, decayed areas and upward facing checks, under windows, and the lower few courses of logs Also, we try to figure out where all the excess moisture is coming from
10) We look for any gaps that have developed due to settling and shrinkage drying. This is a greater concern on homes that are less than five years old, but regular soil settling and erosion can occur around a home of any age.
Now it is report time. Here we write up a report showing our findings and comparing the report to the previous year’s report. This should be added to you Home Maintenance log.
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