Log Home Restoration in Dubois, WY: 4 Jobs, Honest Prices
Log home restoration in Dubois is a sun problem more than a water problem. Dubois sits east of Togwotee Pass on the Wind River in a drier, sunnier pocket than the Teton side, and dry heat plus altitude is exactly what destroys a finish fastest.
Log Care crosses the pass for Dubois work and has restored log homes across western Wyoming since 2008. Assessments are free and done on site.
What Dubois does to a log home
Dry air and hard UV
Less moisture does not mean less damage. Sun is what breaks down a finish, and Dubois gets more of it than the Teton side. Sunny elevations here can be chalking two years ahead of the same house in Jackson.
Wind out of the Wind River
Wind scours a surface and drives what moisture there is into checks and joints. It also carries grit, which sands an already-failing finish off a south wall.
Big swings between hot and cold
Wide daily and seasonal temperature swings move logs more, and movement opens checks and stresses chinking joints. Elastomeric chinking that flexes with the log is not optional here.
Cabins and guest properties
A lot of the log building out here is guest and ranch accommodation. Decks, railings and entries carry traffic and lose their finish first.
The four jobs a Dubois log home needs
Media blasting · $3–$6 per sq ft
Strips failed stain, paint, mildew and gray UV-damaged fiber back to bare, bondable wood using recycled crushed glass, corn cob or walnut shell. New finish will not bond to gray fiber. Log home media blasting.
Log rot repair · $250 to $5,500
Priced by method, decided by a probe: borate treatment, epoxy consolidation, a Dutchman patch, half-log facing or a full log. Water is almost always the cause, so we fix the water too. Log home repair.
Staining and sealing · $1.40–$10 per sq ft
A breathable, penetrating stain goes on bare, sound wood within days of the blast, before UV can gray it again. Cost tracks prep, not paint. Log home staining.
Chinking and caulking · $12–$22 per linear ft
Failed material removed, joint prepped, backer rod installed, new chinking applied over a finished surface so it bonds. Done right it lasts twenty years or more. Chinking and caulking.
We also handle thermal imaging, log carpentry, house painting, pressure washing and window washing. Everything is on the services page.
Dubois and the towns around it
Dubois is served alongside Moran, Jackson, Kelly and the rest of our Jackson Hole territory. Every town is on the service areas page.
Log home restoration questions from Dubois owners
How much does log home restoration cost in Dubois?
Media blasting runs $3 to $6 per square foot of log surface, staining $1.40 to $10 per square foot depending on prep, a full re-chink $12 to $22 per linear foot, and rot repair from a $250 patch to $5,500 for a jacked sill log. Most whole-house projects land between $15,000 and $60,000. See log home restoration cost.
It is dry here. Do I really need to worry about rot?
Less than in a wet climate, but the finish problem is worse, not better. Sun is what kills a finish, and dry sunny air lets more of it through. What you save on decay you spend on UV, and an unprotected log goes gray and starts checking regardless of humidity.
Do you actually come over the pass?
Yes. Dubois is part of our territory and the on-site assessment is free. Scheduling depends on Togwotee, so booking ahead matters.
How often should a Dubois log home be restained?
South and west walls every three to five years, north and east walls every five to eight. The quickest test is whether water still beads on the wall — when it soaks in, the repellent is spent. Blasting back to bare wood is typically needed every seven to ten years.