Eco-Friendly Maintenance
Maintenance is an important part of the decision process in choosing your new log home. Northern White Cedar has already given us a natural insulating benefit, but it also plays a role in minimizing the amount of maintenance and your exposure to harmful chemicals (VOC).
- No harmful insecticide treatments. Northern White Cedar's natural resistance to insects, mildew and rot keep treatment maintenance to a minimum. As a result, Katahdin Cedar Log Homes are naturally long-lasting and easy to maintain. Other species, such as pine, have no natural resistance to these damaging effects and so must be treated with protective agents and insecticides to prevent infestation. Many of these agents to be most effective contain harmful Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) which produce gases which may have short- and long-term health effects.
- Environmentally-friendly stains and topcoats. Katahdin has had great success with the "green" formulations of Perma-Chink Systems stains, topcoats and maintenance products. All their eco-friendly products meet federal VOC standards. Because Katahdin delivers an extremely low moisture log (12-14%), homeowners can apply stains and topcoats once the roof system is complete. This minimizes the damage that wind and weather can cause while waiting for some logs to dry enough to apply. For example, pine log homes sometimes have to delay 3-6 months before safely applying protective stain and topcoats because the logs are simply too wet to take the stain.
