Need advice on a potential log home rehab!

[Sariya Saabye]

Hi all! I am a new investor in the St. Louis area.  I have a strong lead on a log home in need of rehab.  I love the house and am already fantasizing about how great it will look, but I know there are concerns specific to log homes.  Wanted to reach out to all you savvy rehabbers out there and see if anyone has experience with log homes and can give me advice.  Thanks in advance!

[Jon A.]

In the photo above posted by @ Chris Svendsen , the logs are flat on the inside. Your older log homes are round and have not been flattened like that . Water collects on the round outside logs and travels down to the chink. The moisture  collects there and rots the log. They sell an expensive caulk that you use to seal the where the log meets the chink. This prevents moisture from entering the wall and rotting it. Therefore, the maintenance on these homes can become an annual thing checking for cracked and or split caulking to prevent moisture from entering under the log.   It can be difficult to explain without pics or drawing it out for you on paper.  But basically, if that kind of maintenance has not been done over the years, the logs can rot. Another thing to consider is your wiring. Much of it will be exposed metal conduit because it is not that easy to just go hiding wires in log walls. Not to try and scare you out of the deal or anything but these are factors to consider when looking at log homes. I have only worked on a couple of them over the years and I think the older ones are really a labor of love and most log home owners are not aware that their old beautiful log house is rotting around them. Just take a screwdriver and try to slam it into one of the lower logs on one of the corners of the house. If it sink in a couple inches, there will be problems down the road. The one in the photos above seems to be in great shape. You gotta love log homes if you are into construction at all but you have to keep in mind the older ones were built to keep the owner dry and warm, not house wires and duct work and wires. They were built out of a necessity and not a desire. Just my thoughts.