Log Cabin in the Mountains, and a Step by Step Tutorial on How to Paint Logs

Pin It

My son who lives in the mountains, asked me to paint his shed while we were visiting him. It is hard to describe this shed because it's not built with 2X4's, instead it's a steel frame welded together and the OSB sheets are screwed to the metal framework with self tapping screws. Why? You ask. Because my son hates wood and loves welding.

It had a few issues from a construction standpoint. It did the trick but he wanted it to look nicer.  The men took the doors off the front and did a little reconstruction.

While they did that, I started painting. That little black spot in front of me is a little window so he can keep an eye on the dogs in the front yard, so it has to stay.

Of course every now and then you have to stop and smell the roses, or look at the mountains, whatever the case may be, the view from here is amazing.

So while Johnny and I were working on the shed, Dustin decided his Dad needed a headache rack for his truck, so he made one for him.

When our second son saw it, he wanted one too, so he built another one that we will take back to Ontario with us.

Once those were completed he helped his Dad rebuild the front of the shed. Do you see the hinge on the right? Keep an eye on it.

Ok, here's a step by step tutorial on how to paint a log. Paint in the medium brown colour. 

Then paint a dark edge (fading to light) across the top. Then paint a dark edge along the bottom fading to light about half way up the log. Paint a few faint streaks lengthwise throughout the log. Fade from dark to light with a sponge if needed.

Next paint a slight white highlight on the top half of the log.  Soften the white with a damp sponge.

Next use the dark brown to add streaks and knots to the logs.

Add some thin white highlights along the cracks and in the knots.

And then some black shadows along the cracks and knots.

Next, paint the ends of the logs to tie the two side together.

Finally add the chinking in off white. Make sure you add a little variation at the top and bottom of the chinking so that the logs aren't perfectly parallel to each other, there should be some slight wiggle to your line.

There you go, go paint some logs!

When I see this next picture it doesn't look very high, but when I'm up there with nothing to hang on to it feels very high.

These are the brushes I used, and I usually use a natural sea sponge but couldn't get one here, so I just used the cheap sponges.

I used a light/medium golden brown and a very dark brown. Also black and white. You could use whatever shades you like. I have also done these in gray and black.

The men added an overhang on the front of the shed among other repairs.  Here it is all done!

It took five days to complete.

Oh wait a minute, remember that hinge I told you to keep an eye on, well there was a reason for that.  The end of the shed was built so that it completely opens up.  The door on the far left and the white door are hinged together, and the right opens also. Is that genius or what?

Far left door closed, and right door closed, whatever you want.

 I hope you enjoyed seeing what I did on my summer vacation :)

Pin It