Owning a log home tucked back in the woods or along a lakefront is a dream for a lot of people; but once they find out about the maintenance costs involved, they are scared away. According to log home restoration companies, you can expect to spend a minimum of $750 a year in time and materials just to maintain a log home. In addition, every three to five years, you'll have to dig deeper into your pocket -- some $6,000 deeper -- to cover the cost of having the home preserved, re-stained, and sealed to protect it from weather and insects.Orvis and Diane Stockstad of Fargo, N.D., have owned a cabin on Pelican Lake in Central Minnesota for 30 years now. It's not a log home, but has log siding, which until recently required just as much work. "Rather than enjoying the lake with our kids and grandkids, it seemed like we were spending every summer working on the cabin," says Diane. One year, Orvis spent the entire summer sanding the wood. The next was spent staining the siding; and it went in cycles. There was always something related to the maintenance of the siding to do."We're in our 70s now and too old for that so we decided to get a different kind of siding," says Diane. She and her husband found just what they were looking for in a catalog they received from the company that had done the siding for their main residence. ABC Seamless Steel Log Home Siding gives you the authentic look of log without the maintenance hassle. Log on to www.abcseamless.com to view pictures of completed log siding homes. The siding, which was installed over the Stockstad's existing wood siding, is made of steel so it won't rot or fade; and it comes with a lifetime-limited warranty never to crack, chip or rust. Like the traditional ABC Seamless siding styles, steel log home siding comes in a variety of colors and sizes. The Stockstads decided to go with "Cinnamon" which is a reddish color, but the log home siding also comes in 16 other shades."It's really amazing," says Diane. "From the road, it looks like an authentic log cabin. You'd have to get up mighty close before realizing that it isn't." The Stockstads had the log home siding installed on their cabin four years ago. Now instead of spending their summers working on the cabin, they're getting to enjoy it."It's really catching on," says ABC Seamless spokesman Scott Seiler. "People who own authentic log cabins are now installing it on the outside of their homes to cut down on the amount of time they have to spend doing maintenance."Log on to www.abcseamless.com to order a free video or DVD showing the installation process along with pictures of a completed home.Copyright © 2005, ARA Content
“ From the road, it looks like an authentic log cabin. ”
