Do you think your utility bills are too high for the size of your home? Is your home drafty or uncomfortable? Does water condense on the inside of your windows? Have spiders, ladybugs and other insects invaded your living areas? The first step in resolving all of these issues - and more - is an energy audit conducted by a trained professional with the proper tools and equipment. But is it worth it?

Before we get started, let’s look at the difference between shakes and shingles. In many cases the terms are used interchangeably but regional differences do exist. Nationally you will find shake roofs and shingle-sided homes as well as vice-versa. It’s more a matter of semantics than definition.

Occasionally we get a call from someone with an older log home who wants to “seal and protect” their logs but does not wish to remove the gray patina that has built up over the years.

Typically they think that some type of clear finish can be applied to their home which will keep water from penetrating into the wood and help retard wood erosion due to sun, wind, and rain. The truth is that there is no clear exterior product that will meet their expectations.

Every spring we get lots of calls about carpenter bees drilling into logs, fascia boards, eaves, decks and other unpainted wood surfaces. Carpenter bees are big, black solitary bees that look similar to bumblebees but have bare, shiny backs whereas a bumblebee's back is hairy. Unlike honey bees that reproduce in hives, carpenter bees drill into wood in order to lay their eggs. Their holes can be identified easily as they are perfectly round and about 1/4 inch in diameter.

Although carpenter bees prefer softwoods such as cedar, redwood, or cypress, they happily attack pine and most other species of wood. Even pressure treated wood is not immune from carpenter bee attack. As the bee drills into the wood, coarse sawdust may be seen coming out of the hole and piling up beneath the hole. Since it only takes a couple of hours for a carpenter bee to drill a hole a few inches deep, lots of holes can appear over a fairly short period of time.

Most carpenter bee activity occurs in early spring when male and female bees emerge after spending the winter in old nest tunnels. Once they have paired and mated, the female bee drills into a suitable site while the male stays nearby to ward off intruders. Male carpenter bees often frighten people with their aggressive behavior but since they have no stinger they are essentially harmless. Females have a stinger but only use it if molested.

Once the initial hole is drilled through the surface, the bee will make a turn and excavate a tunnel along the grain of the wood. This tunnel, which may run for several inches, becomes the cavity where the female deposits her eggs. Several eggs are laid in individual chambers separated by plugs of pollen on which the larvae feed until they emerge as adults during the summer months. In addition to making new holes, carpenter bees also enlarge old tunnels. If left unattended for several years, serious damage to a wood member may result.

If you live around trees, and many people do, you probably have carpenter ants around your home. Carpenter ants are typically large ants, although the size of the workers can vary in a single colony. Finding a few carpenter ants in your home each week is not necessarily a sign that you have an infestation. Foraging ants roam far and wide looking for food and an occasional ant trapped in a sink or bathtub is quite common. If there are trees close to your home, ants can fall or be blown off the trees onto your roof. They may end up trapped within your home during their journey back to their nest.

Although we emphasize the importance of cleaning the surface prior to the application of our finishes, there are some types of surface contaminates that can be very difficult or even impossible to remove with just a light washing. The leading cause of dark discolorations appearing under any transparent finish like Lifeline™ is the presence of minute metal particles imbedded in the surface of the wood.

Sure Shine™ Gloss or Satin is a water-based, urethane-acrylic, interior clear finish for application on both horizontal and vertical surfaces; however, the application of a urethane-acrylic finishes is a bit different than those based on acrylic latex polymers. For example, our pigmented Lifeline™ stains and Advance and Acrylic Topcoats should be thoroughly mixed and brushed out as far as they will go. This may include vigorous back-brushing. However, this technique does not work when applying Sure Shine and its proper application is a bit different than any of our other finish systems.

Much of our technical literature and many of our articles refer to pH as it relates to its impact on bare wood and finished surfaces. Everyone should have a basic understanding of what pH means and how it is measured.

Although most people use brushes to apply our finish removers they can be applied with airless sprayers as long as you know what to do. Here is some information that will guide you in using airless spray equipment to apply both S-100™ and StripIt®.

July is National Log Home Month. During the month of July, log home manufacturers will honor America’s log home heritage by hosting home tours, log raising demonstrations, log home building seminars and more. There are many different sizes and styles of log home construction to suit any homeowner's vision.

Here we present the TOP Log Home Manufacturers in the USA and invite you to visit their websites and see what they have to offer. Each manufacturer is outstanding in quality of craftsmanship, and this is not a ranked list.