Staining and Sealing a Log Home

Finish and protect

Staining a log home, without buying it twice

Log walls drink more than flat siding does, and the first coat drinks most. Ordering short is the usual way this job turns into two orders and two weekends.

  • Exterior stains, clear topcoats and the prep products that go under them
  • A free calculator that turns your wall measurements into gallons
  • Advice on prep, which is where most of the outcome is decided
  • Shipped across all fifty states, with 5 gallon pails on several lines
Work out my gallonsShop exterior stains
Log home exterior with the log wall surface clearly visible

Tell us about the walls

Send us the rough size and the state the wood is in. We come back with what to use and how much of it.

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Thanks. We will come back with what to use.

You will get a recommendation for the prep and the finish, and the quantity for the size you gave us. If you can reply with a photo of a wall, the advice gets a lot more specific.

In a hurry? Call 1-800-426-1002.

Advice before you buy5 gallon pails on several linesShips to all fifty states

There is a season for this

Prep decides the outcome, not the stain

Stains need warmth and dry wood to cure properly. In the northern half of the country the usable stretch runs out in the fall, and a coat applied too late in the year does not set up the way it should.

If you are planning to do this before winter, it is worth working out the quantities now rather than in six weeks. Tell us your timing on the form and we will say plainly whether you have the window.

New wood

New logs carry mill glaze, a slick surface left by the blade. Stain sitting on top of it does not bond properly. It needs opening up first.

Gray wood

Gray is degraded surface fiber, not dirt. Washing will not shift it, and staining over it means the finish is holding on to a layer that is already letting go. It needs stripping back to sound wood.

Dirty wood

Dirt, pollen and mold staining on otherwise sound wood is the straightforward case. A wash and a rinse, then let it dry properly before you start.

An existing finish

What you can put over a coating depends on what it is. Send us a photo through the form and we will tell you.

What people use

Stains, topcoats and the prep that goes first

Outlast Q8 Log Oil exterior log stainOutlast Q8 Log OilExterior log stain, 5 gallonTransformation Log and Timber oil based stain, 5 gallonTransformation Log and TimberOil-based stain and sealerLifeline Ultra-2 five gallon pailLifeline Ultra-2Exterior wood and log stainLifeline Advance clear topcoatLifeline AdvanceClear exterior topcoatLog stain color chartWood PrepClean, strip and brightenQ8 Log Oil in light goldWood PreservativesBorate treatment before you finish

Everything is in Exterior Stains and Top Coats, prep is in Wood Prep, and interior work is in Interior Stains and Clears.

Before you order

Three things worth checking

Measure the walls, not the floor

Log walls carry more surface area than the same wall in flat siding, because every log is a curve. The calculator accounts for it.

The first coat drinks most

Bare log takes far more than the second coat will. Plan both coats when you order, or the second trip costs you the freight twice.

Color is hard to judge on a screen

Ask us for the closest match to what you have now, or order a sample before you commit to five gallons.

Not sure what is on your walls?

Send a photo or call us. Working out what is already there is the part that decides everything else.

1-800-426-1002

LogHomeMart mills its own logs, siding, posts and railing components in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, and ships across all fifty states. Part of the Golden Eagle Log and Timber Homes family.