Log Home Restoration · Teton County, Wyoming & Idaho
Log Home Staining in Jackson Hole
- Serving Teton County since 2008
- Licensed & insured crews
- Free on-site assessment
The short answer
What is log home staining?
Log home staining is the application of a pigmented, breathable exterior finish to bare or prepared log walls. It is not paint. Paint sits on top and traps moisture; a log home stain penetrates the surface fiber, blocks UV with pigment, and still lets the wood release the water it takes on through the season.
Pigment is the working part. Clear finishes look wonderful for about a summer, then the UV goes straight through and grays the fiber underneath. The more pigment a stain carries, the longer it protects and the less of the grain you see. Every log home staining decision is a trade between those two things.
At Teton County elevation that trade is harsher than most of the country. Higher UV, larger daily temperature swings, months of snow load against the lower courses, and a short window each year when conditions are actually right to apply a finish. A stain that gives you six years in Ohio will not give you six years here.
Diagnose it yourself
Six signs your log home needs re-staining
You do not wait for a schedule, you watch the wall. South and west elevations fail years before north and east on the same house, and the first sign is almost always colour, not peeling.
Water stops beading
Flick water at the wall. On a sound finish it beads and runs off. If it darkens the log and soaks in, the water repellent is spent even if the colour still looks fine. This is the earliest and most useful test you can do yourself.
The south or west wall is lighter than the north
Uneven fade across elevations means UV has started breaking down the pigment. Catch it here and you may only need a maintenance coat instead of a full strip.
Chalking
Rub a hand down the log. If it comes away with pigment on it, the binder has degraded and the finish is shedding.
Gray showing through
Gray is UV-damaged surface fiber. Stain will not bond properly to it, so once gray is visible the wall needs prep — not just another coat over the top.
Peeling, flaking or blistering
A film-forming product losing adhesion. Once a film starts lifting, spot repairs rarely hold. This usually means media blasting back to bare wood.
Dark blotches or black spotting
Mildew or tannin bleed where the surface stays damp — typically the bottom two courses, under eaves that are too short, or a north wall in the trees. It needs treating before any finish goes on.
The one real decision
Penetrating or film-forming?
Penetrating stains weather thin. Film-forming stains peel. That single difference decides what your next maintenance cycle costs — a wash and a coat, or a full strip back to bare wood.
| Finish type | How it works | Life at Teton elevation | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penetrating oil stain | Soaks into the surface fiber. Weathers back thinner over time rather than lifting. | 3–5 years south/west, 5–8 north/east | Needs re-coating sooner, but a maintenance coat goes straight over a cleaned wall. No stripping. |
| Modified oil / hybrid | Penetrates and leaves a light surface build. The common choice on Teton County log homes. | 4–7 years exposed | Product-specific. Recoat windows are tighter than the label suggests at altitude. |
| Film-forming finish | Cures into a coating that sits on the surface. Highest gloss and the deepest colour. | 5–8 years when perfect | When it fails it peels, and peeling means a full strip. Unforgiving of damp wood or bad prep. |
| Clear or lightly tinted | Little to no pigment. | 1–2 years | Do not use it on a Teton County exterior. Without pigment there is nothing stopping UV, and the wood grays underneath a finish that still looks intact. |
| Paint | Opaque film, not breathable. | — | Traps moisture inside the log. The single fastest way to turn a finish problem into a rot problem. |
For most Jackson Hole and Teton Valley log homes we recommend a penetrating or modified oil finish, and we will say so even though the film products look better on day one. A wall you can maintain with a cleaning and a fresh coat every few years costs a fraction of a wall that has to be blasted every time the finish gives up. The USDA Forest Products Laboratory Wood Handbook covers the underlying mechanics if you want the research rather than the sales pitch.
Why finishes fail early
Five mistakes that cost you a stain job
Almost every log home staining failure we are called to fix in Teton County comes down to one of five things, and four of them happen before a drop of stain reaches the wall.
- 01
Staining over gray fiber
UV-damaged surface wood is loose and powdery. Stain applied over it bonds to fiber that is already letting go, so the finish leaves when the fiber does. Gray has to come off first — by media blasting or sanding — not be covered up.
- 02
Applying to wood that is too wet
Above roughly 18 percent moisture content the finish cannot penetrate and cures over trapped water. On a spring job in Teton County, a wall that looks dry after two sunny days often is not. We meter it rather than guess.
- 03
Working in the wrong window
Direct sun on a wall flashes the surface before the stain can absorb. Below about 50°F it will not cure properly, and our overnight lows kill more finishes than our daytime highs. That means following the shade around the house and stopping earlier in the day than most crews want to.
- 04
Skipping back-brushing
Spraying alone lays stain on the surface. Back-brushing works it into the fiber and into the checks, where water would otherwise sit. It roughly doubles the labor on a wall and it is the first thing cut from a cheap bid.
- 05
Sealing the joints last, or not at all
A perfect finish on a wall with failed chinking is money spent on the wrong problem. Water gets in at the joint, moves behind the stain, and pushes it off from underneath. Chinking and caulking comes before stain, never after.
How the work is done
Our log home staining process
Roughly seventy percent of a good stain job happens before the first coat. Prep is where the years come from.
- 01
Assessment and test panel
We read the existing finish, meter the moisture, and put your chosen colour on a real section of your wall. Stain looks different on your species, in your light, at your elevation than it does on a card.
- 02
Surface prep
Whatever it takes to reach sound, bondable fiber. A wash and brighten if the existing finish is simply tired; media blasting if it is peeling or gray. This step is what a bid is really quoting.
- 03
Repairs and sealing
Any rot or damaged logs come out now, and the joints get sealed. Stain is the last thing on the wall, not the first.
- 04
First coat, back-brushed
Sprayed and immediately worked in by hand, log by log, keeping a wet edge along the full length of each course so there are no lap marks where one day's work met the next.
- 05
Second coat
Applied inside the manufacturer's recoat window — which at altitude is usually shorter than the label states. The second coat is what carries the UV protection; a single-coat job is a two-year job.
- 06
Walkthrough and a maintenance plan
We walk the house with you, note which elevations will need attention first, and tell you roughly when. South and west walls will always come due before the rest.
What it costs
What log home staining costs in Teton County
Most full log home staining projects in Jackson Hole and Teton Valley land between $9,000 and $28,000. What moves the number is almost never the stain — it is how much prep the wall needs before the stain can go on.
- Maintenance coat over a sound finish$1.40 – $2.90 / sq ft
- Wash, brighten and two coats$2.60 – $4.75 / sq ft
- Blast to bare wood, then two coats$5.50 – $10.00 / sq ft
- Clear topcoat over stain$0.80 – $1.60 / sq ft
- Typical log surface, 2,000–3,000 sq ft home2,800 – 4,200 sq ft
- Most full projects$9,000 – $28,000
Ranges are typical for Teton County and Teton Valley. Every log home is priced from a site visit, because access, wall height, log condition and the finish coming off change the number.
The cheapest bid on a stain job is almost always the one that skipped prep or a second coat. You will not see the difference in year one. You will see it in year three, when one wall is chalking and the quote to fix it includes blasting.
Find out what your walls actually need
A free on-site assessment tells you whether you are looking at a maintenance coat or a full strip — and those are very different numbers. We meter the wood, read the existing finish, and put it in writing.
Questions we get asked
Log home staining questions
How often should a log home be stained in Jackson Hole?
There is no single number, because elevations fail at different rates on the same house. As a working guide at Teton County elevation: south and west walls need attention every 3 to 5 years, north and east walls every 5 to 8. Rather than staining on a calendar, test whether water still beads on each wall — that tells you when the repellent is spent.
Can you stain over the existing finish?
Sometimes. If the current finish is a penetrating stain that has simply worn thin, and the wood underneath is sound and not gray, a wash, brighten and maintenance coat is the right answer and by far the cheapest. If it is peeling, chalking heavily, or gray is showing through, it has to come off first.
What is the best stain for a log home?
The honest answer is that the product matters less than the prep and the number of coats. That said, for Teton County exposure we generally recommend a pigmented penetrating or modified oil finish over a film-forming one, because when a penetrating stain reaches the end of its life it weathers thin instead of peeling — which means your next cycle is a coat, not a full strip.
How much does it cost to stain a log home?
Most full projects in Jackson Hole and Teton Valley run $9,000 to $28,000. A maintenance coat over a sound finish is $1.40 to $2.90 per square foot; a blast back to bare wood followed by two coats is $5.50 to $10.00. Log surface area is typically 1.3 to 1.7 times the home's floor area.
What time of year can you stain a log home here?
Realistically late spring through early autumn. Stain needs the surface above about 50°F through cure, which at altitude means watching overnight lows as much as daytime highs, and it needs wood under roughly 18 percent moisture. Our application window is shorter than most of the country, which is why staining schedules here fill early.
Do I need to stain the interior logs too?
Interior logs get no UV and no weather, so they are a finish and appearance question rather than a protection one. Most homes need it far less often than the exterior. If your interior logs are darkening near windows, that is UV coming through the glass and it is worth addressing.
Keep reading
Related services
Media Blasting
Stripping a failed finish back to bare, bondable wood. The step that decides whether new stain lasts.
Media blasting →Chinking & Caulking
Sealing the joints before the finish goes on, so water cannot get behind your new stain.
Chinking & caulking →Log Home Repair
Rot and log replacement. Damaged wood comes out before anything is applied over it.
Log home repair →Free Assessment
Find out whether your walls need a maintenance coat or a full strip. In writing, no charge.
Book an assessment →