One of the key bits of information for keeping hardwood floors shiny is knowing what type of finish has been applied to the wood. Was your hardwood sealed with a polyurethane or polyacrylic urethane finish, or was it finished with a paste wax? If you don't know, here's a test to help you make the best cleaning choices:

• In a spot with normal foot traffic, place a drop of water on the floor. If the water is quickly absorbed or causes spotting on the finish, this indicates the hardwood has not been sealed and should never be cleaned with water. But if the bead of water just sits on the surface without being absorbed, it means the hardwood floor has been sealed.

• To test for a paste wax finish, grab some fine steel wool and rub it lightly over the floor in a corner. If the floor has been waxed, there will be a gray, waxy film left on the steel wool.

COLOR CHOICES FOR LOG OR TIMBER INTERIORS

When it comes to log and timber homes, grays and browns are the biggest trending colors, as they offer the widest neutral tones. Gray has been the hot shade for the past several years in homes, from walls to floors.

True to its "neutral" title, gray really goes with almost any color. The key to a great match lies in coordinating the tones. Gray doesn't have to appear in your palette as a color of the wall - it can also be found in a fireplace exterior, flooring, or on countertops. When you add gray to any room, be sure to consider other shades of gray that might already be there.

How Energy Efficient Is Your Home?

Each year millions of homeowners across this country make decisions regarding preparation of their homes for the upcoming winter season. How each owner prepares their home will be influenced by which factors they consider important. For example, energy cost, energy efficiency, infrastructure, weather forecasts and location are all important factors to consider. The cost of energy from all sources has gone up considerably this past year as we are all familiar with our monthly utitility bills. As a result, the price of energy delivered to residential customers this coming winter 2022-2023 is projected to be up similarly like last year. These unusually large price increases can put real financial strain on most homeowners. Our energy efficiency evaluation is structural in nature, not targeting consumption devices like appliances, electronics, or lightbulbs. 

Start Saving on Your Heating Bills Now!

Energy Seal is a textured acrylic polymer sealant that provides a long-lasting and resilient seal for any style of log home. Since logs constantly twist, turn, swell, expand and shrink, gaps may appear between logs or between the logs and window and door frames or other areas of the home.  These gaps retain moisture and allow the seepage of air and water into the home. Energy Seal eliminates these gaps by forming an air and water tight barrier over them. 

Perma-Chink Systems® recently added another beautiful wood finish option for our customers - Log and Timber Defense™. Unlike our traditional Lifeline wood finishes, Log and Timber Defense penetrates your wood much like an oil coating. Once Log and Timber Defense penetrates the wood surface, it forms a strong lattice network within the wood, reinforcing and strengthening the entire system from the inside out. This mechanism greatly reduces the chances of peeling and flaking by leaving the system breathable to water vapor. Many traditional oil-based finishes can also form a network, but are often so high in solids that they can easily blister and peel. Vapor pressure builds up behind the thick, unbreathable solid film and pushes the film away from the wood. This leads to an unfortunate situation requiring removal of the compromised coating down to bare wood.