Log replacement in home

[PA Woodbutcher]

I have a door to replace in this house. When the builder installed the deck on it, they obviously had no idea what they were doing as there are so many things wrong with it, the list boggles the mind....We'll start with the fact they put a deck on it, tight to the house with no flashing. This has rotted out the plywood from the outside, in. Along with rotting the plywood, it also rotted the log. It is an 8" log and rotted at least halfway up.

Looking for ideas on how to replace the bottom log on left side of the door as that appears to be the worst area. They rest of it, I think I can get away with cutting a kerf in the logs and flashing it to get rid of the water.

No idea where the lags are that hold the logs together, so right now I'm leaning towards cutting out the affected area, replacing with treated wood and capping it with siding. Any suggestions as to how I go about cutting half a log out.

[Trim40]

I have no log experience, so use this at your own risk.
Remove the door and the jack/ trimmer.
Score the log past the rot and start chipping away at the rotten part.
You could also cut the log all the way through past the rot and rip the rotten part twice with a sawzall.
After you remove the log you should be able to slide the replacement in.
Before you touch the log, you should find a replacement first. Do the H/O know who manufactured the logs? Some are t & g.
Or call a log home company, have them do it and add 30%.

[Leo G]

Also, the door should be a floating unit. As the logs shrink the house gets shorter and this is all calculated withing the hardware(s) that contain the doors and windows and pass through jambs.

[480sparky]

That doesn't look like a true log (full log) house, but a log veneer. Treat the veneer just like any other siding material and proceed as normal.

[Allrounder]

I could be wrong, but it looks like siding to me, not actual logs.

Kinda like this: http://www.log-siding.com/siding.htm

If so, it should be like replacing any other wood siding product.

[framer55]

I agree, it appears to be log siding.

[Bodger]

Seems like all you can do is fire up the Sawzall and cut until you get to un-denigrated wood, and replace as necessary.

[Bender]

I'd paint it.




:grin:

[PA Woodbutcher]

:laugh3:

No they're for real logs. The logs themselves I don't believe were kiln dried either. Can't see the pic as I'm typing, but you should be able to see some checking, some of them quite deep. I peeled the outer and inner casing off on Friday to see what exactly was going on before making a commitment on diving in. The doorway has 2x6s floated inside the logs to attach the door to. I believe I need a full 2 days of fairly clear weather to be on the safe side. The house sits on top of a mountain and the wind blows constantly towards the door. I already have the door at the house to replace the existing.....door and sidelight unit without glass or even cutouts for the glass.

Bodger was the closest that I could figure out also, except I was figuring on firing up the chainsaw.:mad2:

[Trim40]

If you are taking the chainsaw better bring a few chains or a file. One spike = one chain.

[SLS-Construction]

Spikes / Timberlocks are generally dead center & only 2 or 3 per log and it looks like those are milled logs that interlock (eliminating most of the shrinkage issue in traditional log homes)

How far back does the damage go - all the way through, or just surface? Have you considered an epoxy patch & wood restorer? Forget the flashing, pull the deck loose & use some deck spacers or better yet, make it free standing

[Tommy]

Where does the wire for those lights run? The few log homes I've worked on, they drilled holes down through the logs to the basement for all exterior lights, and for receptacles in the exterior walls.

[PA Woodbutcher]

Spikes / Timberlocks are generally dead center & only 2 or 3 per log and it looks like those are milled logs that interlock (eliminating most of the shrinkage issue in traditional log homes)

How far back does the damage go - all the way through, or just surface? Have you considered an epoxy patch & wood restorer? Forget the flashing, pull the deck loose & use some deck spacers or better yet, make it free standing

Once the casing was off the outside and the inner most deck board was pulled off, I could just barely reach semi solid wood going in the house and really couldn't reach anything going up. Have never used a wood epoxy, but probably passed that point a couple of years ago.

Pulling the deck off may be an option. I have a 40' handicap ramp to put in the back of the house and 1,000' of hardwood to install inside. When giving him his original estimate I had included flashing and replacing the floor, never dreamed that a log would rot that bad.:smash:

Where does the wire for those lights run? The few log homes I've worked on, they drilled holes down through the logs to the basement for all exterior lights, and for receptacles in the exterior walls.

The wire for the exterior light runs down the inside of the floating 2x6 previously mentioned...Shouldn't be a problem except I will have to cut a slot for it when replacing the subfloor. Speaking of which, I found no traces of PL on the joist from below, so that may be a little easier.

[PA Woodbutcher]

If you are taking the chainsaw better bring a few chains or a file. One spike = one chain.

Been cutting firewood since I was about 12. When growing up we heated my Dad's house solely with heat....they had electric, but it never got turned on, we used 2 wood stoves = lots of wood:laugh3:

Now I heat my shop with wood heat and have a few junk or close to it chains hanging around. Glad you mentioned it or I probably would have dove into it and then sharpened the chain.:smash:

[PA Woodbutcher]

You could also cut the log all the way through past the rot and rip the rotten part twice with a sawzall.
After you remove the log you should be able to slide the replacement in.
Before you touch the log, you should find a replacement first. Do the H/O know who manufactured the logs? Some are t & g.
Or call a log home company, have them do it and add 30%.

This is the way I'll be going. Finally got a chance to meet with him last night and he actually has a few logs from the original build.:2thumbsup:

Should (i will be holding my breath), be easier than trying to patch siding in.:rolleyes3:

[PA Woodbutcher]

Pease glass works just fine in a fiberglass therma tru door:2thumbsup:

Got another question for you experts, but will skip over to the interior:grin:

[PA Woodbutcher]

Went pretty well overall. The logs were all over the place all down the jamb. After taking the door out I straightened them with bar clamps and bolted it all together with 1/4 x 3 flat steel and moved it back over foundation wall. The whole thing was out about 1 1/2" - 2" at the bottom.

Took a little longer than I had though:rolleyes3: