Before every winter, it is recommended to make sure your clients know how to prepare their log home for cold weather. We touched on this topic briefly in our previous post, but we at Eurodita have so much advice to share with our partners, we would like to expand on this topic a little.
What does it mean to prepare a log cabin or glulam log houses for cold weather? First of all, determine when it is considered a cold season in your serviceable area. Some places, prep work on bespoke log houses or even custom mobile homes starts as early as September. Then humidity levels also can determine if it is time to prepare for cold season. If fall seasons are dry, your client’s glulam log cabins will not need to be tended to up until first snows.
So, determine when the cold weather starts, then offer your clients the following advice or even services on their choice of log home kits.
Throughout inspection
First and foremost, advise your clients to walk around their glulam timber house, or offer to do it for them. Inspect every inch. Look for changes in wood colour. Check how even the stain still is. Check the joints of the log house, see if no seals have been broken. Constant contact with rain and wind over time causes damage to these places and to the stain. Make sure there are no cracks or openings between glulam beams.
A great way to quickly inspect the quality of the stain is to take out the hose. Put on the shower-type nozzle and spray water throughout the wall. If water streaks down or forms little pebbles – your stain is safe. If you find patches that stay dry and no water rolls down through it – this is the place where you or your client needs to reapply the stain.
Modular log homes do not have the same issues as full beams would. They are dried and contain less cracks or unwanted, dormant mosquito problem, waiting to happen. However, glulam beams houses still need constant care. If your clients are unable to do so themselves, it is a good service you could offer.
Check the windows and doors
Luckily, vast majority of our wholesale log cabin kits and bespoke log homes come with double glazed windows and doors. This means that both openings are better protected against breakage, accidents and deterioration due to old age. Nevertheless, make sure your clients are aware that it is still a soft spot that needs real attention.
Make sure they or you check the corners of doors and windows, where they meet the glulam walls. There should not be any discolouration, cracks or changes in wood of any kind. If there are, make sure it is not moulded. Offer the services needed to your client for quick window or door repair. Come winter, custom log homes will start leaking heat and the problem will continue to get worse if left for the cold season.
Clear the gunk
Before the first heavy rains or snows, clear the ducts, sewers and dryers. These places tend to accumulate a lot of dust, leaves, grass and bugs – all the things you do not want in your client’s bespoke timber houses. This gunk will freeze and refreeze, clogging up the exits from the log houses more and more. Eventually the sewers or rain ducts will stop functioning and there will suddenly be a significant risk of extra water damage or overflow.
To do this well, make sure to check the roof as well. If the roof of the log home is not slopping, like our Low ridge clock house, they tend to accumulate dead leaves on top over time. Make sure there are no leaves on top of your client’s bespoke summer houses, to reduce the danger of water damage.
Inspect the heating
Finally, make sure the heating systems are running smoothly and the fireplace is clean and taken care of. Cleaning the chimney will be a requirement for your client, if they are running a wood burning fireplace. To avoid dangers of fire, your clients must keep the fireplace clean at all times. Fireplaces are a very cozy addition to all contemporary log cabins, but they do come with additional requirement of cleaning.
These are the main must-do’s when prepping your client’s log home for cold weather. They are not big services that you can provide and most of them are something your clients can do themselves. But in the interest of retaining a customer, it is always good to call back to check on the log home kits you sold and show care to your customers.
If you have not yet found a reliable glulam house construction partner, do not hesitate to check out our website. You can inquire about wholesale log homes prices by visiting our Partner Program site. Good luck!