Key Terms:                  

Preparation of the Wood?

Q.  My log home used to look good, but now it appears the finish has failed and has started to turn gray and blacken, it looks dry and is checking badly and splintering, has mold or mildew inbedded in the surface of the finish, looks chalky and dry, has areas of rot or deterioration, or just the appearance has darkened badly.  Your wood is now being compromised and you are in the arena of WOOD RESTORATION and PROTECTION.

Q.  Can you bring my cedar siding or logs back to new condition with your system of wood restoration?  Will using a high solids, penetrating wood finish such as Lovitt's Natural Gold  make my wood look natural, and can I keep it looking new and protected over the life of the cedar siding or logs?

Yes, we can bring the wood back to new condition.  That is the plan, to restore and prepare the cedar siding or logs for the natural look of Lovitt's Natural Gold and  continue to maintain the cedar/logs with periodic maintenance cleanings and light recoats of Lovitt's.  Through proper application and ongoing maintenance, you may never have to restore your home again and the wood stays structurally sound and protected year after year.

Q. What is Lovitt's Natural Gold and What does it do?                          

Lovitt's Natural Gold is a professionally developed wood finish made with the finest combination of penetrating oils and resins, it contains a powerful biocide package and the highest quality screening UV protectors available.  This product is manufactured under close tolerances to assure the quality is uncompromised.  It is truly a professional, high solids formula that provides maximum protection, while accentuating the natural beauty and grain of the wood.  It is used on log homes, cedar homes, decks, fences, and virtually any exterior wood.  It is a clear formula that is tinted on jobsite with a transparent oxide tint which comes in8 oz cans in 4 colors:      PINE    HONEY     CEDAR  WALNUT    Lovitt's is a professional formulated product, so preparation of the wood is essential to achieve the spectacular results of Lovitt's.  The product is fully penetrating and is designed to be easily maintainable, keeping you away from the expense of restoration down the road, just keep up with the maintenance, every 3-5 years, and you can be assured your wood will be beautifully stunning to the eye, but most of all, protected!  Year after year Lovitt's Natural Gold will look great & defend your wood!

Q.  How long will Lovitt's Natural Gold last on Cedar Siding?  What about log homes?

Usually you will only have to recoat the southern and western sides,  every 3-5 years and usually 4-5 years on the other sides on cedar and log homes.  When you see your wood beginning to lose it's original appearance and "richness" and the wood becomes to look a "little dry" (before greying or blackening), a light maintenance wash and a recoat will be required at that time.  Keep up on the maintenance and stay away from the "complete failure and restoration game" , it can be a costly way to maintain your home over the years.

Q. My decking and siding is new. Why do I have to clean it before I treat it?

A. It is important to always begin with a clean surface. If you could look at the wood under a microscope, you would see how dirty it really is. Construction creates more dirt than you would imagine. Try wiping a damp white rag over the surface to see how much dirt wipes off. Also remember that mildew spores are invisible until they die. You certainly don't want to trap mildew under your finish. Wood finishes adhere and penetrate much better on clean wood.

Q. Is it really necessary to wash, brighten, and sand smooth wood before it is treated, for example on my brand new deck?

A. Yes, if at all possible. There is a condition on many new boards or logs called "mill glaze" or "planer crush". Sometimes you can actually see a sheen on new wood; this is mill glaze. The cutting blades at the mill often burnish the wood's surface fibers and compact them so much that the wood forms a temporary seal of its own. On brand new wood, a finish cannot penetrate through this mill glaze. Instead, it will dry on the surface and wear off much faster. We recommend a twin chemical wash and sanding with 80 grit sandpaper.


Q. Can I use a bleach solution to clean my wood and remove mildew?

A. No, bleach is very harmful to the wood surface. It will remove mildew but will damage your wood in the process. Bleach breaks down lignin, the "glue" that holds wood together. Bleach also tends to turn the wood an unnatural and unattractive color and is harmful to the PH balance of the wood and surrounding soil. Instead of bleach, we recommend Lovitt's Wood Cleaner/Restorer and Lovitt's Wood Brightener/Neutralizer, a biodegradable wood cleaner and brightener. These products will remove all failed finishes, dirt, mildew, and heavy weathering and leave the wood bright and PH balanced.

Q. How long do I have to wait for my wood to season and dry before I use your formula?

A. MM Wood Restoration and Protection finishes, such as Lovitt's Natural Gold can be applied to brand new, unseasoned wood, just keep in mind that new wood will not accept as much penetrating finish and you may need to recoat after one or two years, instead of the 3-5 years when the wood has been aged and/or restored.   If your wood is extremely wet, we recommend waiting for the wood to dry out before application of Oil based finishes. Otherwise, you may see tannin bleeding and stains appearing from under the finish, this is the moisture trying to get out.

Q. Do I need to strip off other products before I apply your product?

A. YES. Poor preparation of the substrate accounts for 60% of the product failures in the first year.  You must start with a perfectly prepared surface for the finishes to penetrate and adhere to.  Our finishes are very transparent, it is important that the wood underneath starts out in good condition. If the previous finish is failed, we recommend using Lovitt's Wood Cleaner/Restorer and Lovitt's Wood Brightener/Neutralizer Kits to restore the wood to new condition.  Contact us for information on the twin-chemical process of wood restoration, we can help you obtain the results you're looking for.

Application Questions

Q. Is it really necessary to apply 2 coats on siding?

A. Yes, 2 coats is our recommended application, three if the wood is older and is still taking finish.  Most siding is rough sawn and is very absorbent. Your goal is to fill up the wood pores until they cannot hold any more wood finish. The stain will last much longer if you can get as much finish to absorb into the wood (Lots of back-brushing on application).  On new smooth wood or new logs, the wood may not be porous enough to absorb 2 coats. You might have to wait several months before applying the second and third coat. 

Q. What happens if I get stain on my glass windows, vinyl frames or other surfaces where I didn't want it ?

A.  It depends of the type of wood finish you are using.  If it is oil based, try to wipe it up quickly with a mineral spirit soaked rag. If you are using a water driven product and the finish is still wet, it can be wiped off with a damp sponge or cloth. If it has dried, it can be removed with Lovitt's Wood Cleaner/Restorer. When using Lovitt's Wood Cleaner/Restorer on surfaces other than wood, always try a small test patch first to make sure it doesn't react negatively with the surface you want to clean. Lovitt's Wood Cleaner/Restorer will remove oil-based paints and will oxidize some metal surfaces.

Q. Why is it important NOT to apply Penetrating Oil and Water Finishes  in the hot sun and wind, and in direct sunlight?

A. Remember, the goal of a penetrating finish is to penetrate!  The sun heats up the wood and the stains resins will begin to dry and harden on the surface before it has a chance to soak into the wood. When the product cures early on the surface, not only will it fail to fully penetrate, it will appear shiny and could chip or flake off and simply not last as long. 

Rule of thumb: if the wood feels warm to the touch, you need to wait until it is in the shade before application.

Maintenance Questions

Q. How do I know when it is time to apply a maintenance coat ?

A. We are often asked "How long does your product last?" This is difficult to answer precisely because so many factors weigh into the answer. A home on the side of a snow-covered mountain or one in the middle of a blazing desert are obviously going to need more consistent care than a house on a tree-shaded lot in a temperate climate. 

Higher solids finishes like the ones we sell at MM Wood Restoration and Protection usually last 3-5 years on southern and western sides and longer on the rest, a maintenance recoat will bring the surfaces back to new looking condition.  Decks, especially new decks, need to be maintained on a bi-yearly basis if your intent is to keep them looking great year round. Outdoor horizontal surfaces take a beating because of sunlight, freeze, water and dirt landing on them. With older decks, some people wait until every other year, with a good cleaning in between. An older deck will absorb much more product initially and will last longer between coats.  Although beautiful finished decks are a statement, you have to plan that maintenance must be performed yearly or semi-yearly!

Note:  If anyone tries to sell you a product that will "last for years with no maintenance", trust us, we do this for a living, the statements are untrue and they are just trying to make a sale.

What should I do to fully restore my home/cabin?

There are a number of steps to follow in restoring your home. They are listed in order below.

1. Assess your home for damage and determine what your goal is.
2. Explore your options and either hire the work out to an experienced company like MM Wood Restoration and Protection or investigate into how to do the work yourself.
3. Start work. Make sure you perform the work items in the right sequence. This will determine the professional finish which is your overall restoration goal. The work sequence for a full restoration is as follows:
   1. Surface Preparation (Twin Chemical Wash, Neutralizing/Brightening and Sanding; or Corn Cob Blasting and Sanding)
   2. Log Repair/Replacement
   3. Finish/Stain
   4. Caulk/Chink

   What are the benefits of Twin Chemical Washing?

• Twin Chemical washing is a process of using chemical cleaners boosted to the proper strength to soften and "break the chemical bonds" of the existing failed finish.  Once the cleaner is applied, high pressure hot or cold pressure washing is used to remove the finish and clean the logs or cedar siding, then, the wood is treated with a brightener/neutralizer (not bleach) to brighten the logs and neutralize the cleaner to return your ph levels to normal.  After the logs dry, the logs are buffed to remove felting.  This process does the least amount of damage to the logs, you are left with a better, smoother log than with corn cob blasting, which slightly pits the wood and leaves a rougher surface.

What are the benefits of Corn Blasting?

1. It removes up to 98% of any existing stain or paint off the logs. Sometimes corn blasting is the only solution in some instances, let our experts consult with you about the best method for you.  Corn blasting removes the existing finish, but can leave logs with deep grooves and/or an extremely roughed surface.  Let's face it, blasting is blasting, even when you use a media such as corn cob.
   It does leave a rough, slightly pitted surface.

2. We recommend this procedure when water infiltration is a major problem (sheetrock against the log walls to exterior or unfinished interior logs), or for difficult to remove products (such as thick coatings or acrylic water based products) but your best bet usually is twin chemical wash if possible.  Our technicians and office professionals can assess your project for the most efficient method to achieve the desired goals of the customer, give us a call and we will schedule a free estimate.
   

Are my logs rotten? Can they be fixed?

Walk around your home and really examine each log. Find logs that may look darker in color than the others, logs with a lot of bug holes or logs that have fungus growing on them. Hit the logs and listen for hollow spaces, take a knife and try to insert it into the log, if it goes in smoothly and far you know that log has a rotten area. To prevent future log damage remove the existing sealer off the logs by twin chemical wash or corn blasting, install impel rods in areas where rot is starting, apply borate into the logs, use epoxy fillers in hollow areas, chink and caulk all seams to prevent water damage and apply a penetrating, breathable sealer. Remember that rot spreads like a cancer. If one log is rotten and you ignore it other logs around that log will eventually become rotten as well. The cheapest way to handle rotten logs is to fix them right away and maintain your home properly. 

Click Here to View MM Wood Restoration & Protection Professional Log Repair section.

What do I do for Insect Infestation?

The best way to deal with insects is to prevent them from the start. When building a new home make sure you apply an insect treatment over all areas and when the home is completed seal it in so if the insects bore into the log and eat the wood they will die. If your home is already built and sealed with a breathable stain you can apply a borate into the logs, but if you have a severe bug problem you should corn blast and apply a highly concentrated insecticide and fungicide solution for deep penetration into the logs. Once penetrated, finish the wood with Lovitt's Natural Gold  for best protection.

Why should I caulk or chink my home?

This is the most frequently asked question and the most overlooked. Some log home manufacturers advertise that their homes are "chinkless" but in actuality no home is. Even if the logs are tight against each other with barely a seam, water and bugs will find a way in and eventually that may lead to log damage. Not only, does properly caulking and chinking prevent damage to the logs but also it also dramatically helps with heating and cooling costs. Areas most affected by caulking and chinking are: Log lateral seams, up-checks, log corner areas, around windows and doors, roofline seam, chimney seam etc…
Link to more info about chinking and caulking.

What is the difference between the most popular log home looks?  

How do I get an estimate?

There are two ways to receive an estimate from our company. They both are FREE!  Just contact us and we will schedule an on site estimate and send our estimator to your home anywhere in Washington State or Northern Idaho Free of charge!  Outside of these states travel and accommodations apply.  (small fee.)

the second involves the homeowner to do most of the work. This involves:

Since our early beginnings we've done everything we could do to gain knowledge about wood, we've tested every type of available wood finish, preserver, and treatment available in the world!  We've broken them down, chemically inspected and scrutinized, tested them in bone-yards, lab environments, and in our service business out in the field, on log homes, cedar homes, decks, and cedar roofs, in the real world.  Some of the products intrigued us, not so much by their formulations, but by their high prices and unrealistic, short-term philosophies on wood protection.  Some of the formulas were simple, some were complex, but none were working as they claimed and we knew we could do better, for less of a cost.  We couldn't figure out why some could charge such an enormous amount for a gallon of formula, sometimes $50 to $80 per gallon, were the ingredients contained expensive, rare, unique?  WE WERE DETERMINED TO FIND OUT.  And we did.........

We tied our reputation as a contractor to the products we use! To achieve the spectacular results our customers demand, we knew we had to build a family of quality products for the professional finisher, a new system, a professional grade system.   

Lovitt's Professional Coatings was born. 

We knew that to perform our mission we would have to surround ourselves with the brightest, most knowledgeable people in the coatings manufacturing world and form these products focusing on 2 perspectives:  The Chemist vs. The Wood Restoration Technician.

We had to be sure that we were formulating a wood finish that would meet 3 major needs:

1. The wood finish must accentuate the natural beauty of wood.

2. The wood finish must be long lasting as possible while still maintaining a clear look.

3. The wood finish must be easy to maintain.

People choose natural wood because of the warmth and character, to cover up the characteristics of the wood with heavy pigments would not meet our first and third goal, here's why:  Heavy pigments cover the natural beauty of the wood, enough said.  Heavily pigmented finishes may last longer initially but when maintenance is required, the darkened pigments must be completely removed (cleaned with wood cleaner, then brightened with wood brightener, sanded, and refinished) before recoating, a costly process.  As you apply more coats of these types of finishes over failed areas (most water-based acrylic formulas rely heavily on pigments for protection) the wood begins to take on a darker and darker look with less and less wood grain and characteristics. Basically, the logs will look dark, heavily pigmented, and blotchy.

But something much worse is happening:

As these coating sit on the surface of the wood, underneath a whole different world is going on. The wood is not being fed the products it needs to stay structurally sound.  The wood is trapping natural moisture that cannot escape, the wood begins to check badly, then these coatings darken and peel off.  These types of finishes require a lot more than a quick maintenance wash and a quick recoat to bring them back to looking brand new, most manufacturers of acrylic, water-based coatings recommend CORNCOB BLASTING or HEAVY SANDING every few years for maintenance.  Can you imagine corncob blasting your home every few years?  Pretty extreme process don't you think, just for maintenance?

The tints we were to use in our professional formula had to meet our 3 goals, so we decided to use finely ground, high quality transparent-oxide tints in our finish.  Here's why:  These tints are translucent and highly effective, they do not cover the natural beauty of the wood, they spread across the wood nicely and tend to build in the grain of the wood, accentuating the grain pattern nicely.  Secondly, as they reflect and absorb the sun's rays to the fulfillment of their life span, they don't darken, the wood begins to take on a "dry appearance".  This is the time when a recoat would be required on the wood.  Since all areas of a home have different exposures to UV degradation, some areas obviously will wear faster than others.  This presented the next hurdle to conquer-what base should we use?

Wood is a cellular material, meaning it is made up of millions of tiny cells that take on a honeycomb like structure, much like a sponge.  As the wood dries and seasons, these voids dry out and become empty.  This is why really dry wood is light.  It made sense to produce a coating that deeply penetrates into these structures and fills them up with and oil and resins, then hardens in the cells for structural strength and protection for the wood, we were now getting closer to knowing what our finish would be, a deeply penetrating, high-solids, oil and resin based formula utilizing the highly effective Transparent Oxide tinting technologies. 

Then came the research and testing to find the most effective method of controlling the growth of mold, mildew, and algae to protect the wood surface from these menaces.  This is an important issue is some parts of the country, and we happen to live in one of them.  This was an important issue for us, we definitely wanted the best, no matter the cost, to combat mold. 

First Step was to completely understand mold and how it occurs:

What is mold?  Mold is part of the Fungi plant life.  These are a unique type of organism due to the fact that they don't convert sunlight into energy like most plants, instead they feed from the starches and sugar that is contained in wood fibers.  Wood is a natural food source for Fungi and hence, mold.  These organisms need the wood along with the right temperature, oxygen, and water to thrive.  Common sense tells us that if we eliminate any one of these critical elements, the mold will not survive.  So we know that we cannot eliminate oxygen, it is all around us.  The temperature is also out of our control, logs and cedar are and always will be victims to mother nature, temperatures vary from region to region.

Well that leaves us with WATER.  We must block the water out from the wood, this will prevent mold and mildew better than any mildewcide available.  When excellent water lock out properties are combined with powerful mildewcides and algaecides we found the solutions we were looking for to complete our formula. 

Lovitt's Natural Gold is a true professional grade formula, manufactured and packaged in an ISO 9001 manufacturing facility.  Our high-solids formula contains the finest ingredients available, but best of all, they are the right ingredients for the wood.  Lovitt's Natural Gold penetrates deeply into the cellular structure of the wood and fills the voids, then the resins cure with the oils giving wood what it craves to stay structurally solid.  This long lasting formula has been proven in the field across the USA with excellent results, our own service business applies over 5,000 gallons a year to customers across the Pacific Northwest.  Our customers & service crews are overjoyed with the ease of maintenance re-coats, and our customers are excited about the low cost of the follow up processes.  In fact, once we restore their log or cedar homes, most of our customers do the maintenance themselves using our Cleaner & Brightener Kits and applying the Natural Gold Wood Finish themselves.  Either way, they are getting expert advice, fast responsive shipping to their doorstep, and professional quality products.  Everybody wins!

Best of all, the wood thrives and stays protected and beautiful year around!  Lovitt's Professional Coatings are brought to you by a band of men and women who are devoted and dedicated to the protection of wood and masonry and to your personal satisfaction with our products and our service departments. 

Thank you for letting us help you in your quest to beautify and protect your natural wood.

Sincerely,

Jeff Slough, Vice-President