5 Kinds of Log Home Rot and How to Treat Them

Log rot is a phenomenon that can destroy your log home’s beauty and integrity. As soon as you notice the initial signs, it is important to take the necessary steps to address and treat them. Preventive measures can also help keep log home rot at bay, and you can do this with high-quality clear decking oil. Just make sure it is EPA-registered and it can penetrate deep into the logs for all-around protection. Here are the kinds of log home rot that can be prevented with a good log oil:

1. Brown rot – This is usually the first sign you can notice when log home rot occurs. On its early stages, it is seen as tiny white spots. If left untreated, it can thrive and turn brown. At this point, it will eat into the wood and destroy the wood fibers, making the material soft until it eventually deteriorates. It creates a clear cube or rectangular-shaped cracks, too. A good clear decking oil with superior water repellency and help protect against brown rot.

2. Soft rot – It creates cavities in the wood cells, resulting in the cell walls eroding. Bacteria & fungi can cause soft rot to occur on the wood’s shallow surfaces that are constantly exposed to high moisture content. At times, it is easily mistaken as brown rot because of the brown hue.

3. White rot – You can easily identify this rot by the light color caused by fungus, which bleaches the wood. This makes the log home have a grayish white or yellow color. Leaving it untreated will result in a stringy, fibrous, and spongy substance, and it can aggressively destroy the wood. High-quality clear decking oil that is formulated to control fungi.

4. Dry rot – A type of brown rot, dry rot forms due to moisture and other elements that can initiate the destruction of wood, like carpenter ants. When it happens, it sifts nutrients off the wood and leaves dry powdery brown substance, which is the destroyed wood.

5. Pocket rot – This occurs on the surface of the logs and looks like white specks. It may seem harmless, but it can actually cause severe destruction of wood.

If the damage has been done, begin the remediation or restoration process by identifying the affected areas, remove and replace the rotted wood, and treat the new material with clear decking oil.