Rico Log HomeRestoration Experts

Rico is a genuine relic of Colorado's silver-mining era, a cluster of 1880s buildings tucked high in the Dolores River headwaters. Caring for its log cabins is as much preservation as maintenance: the wood is old and often soft, the original finishes failed generations ago, and the joints have settled over more than a century. The aim is to make these historic cabins sound and weathertight for decades more without erasing the character that makes Rico feel like a step back in time.

We begin each Rico project by sorting genuinely sound wood from logs that need splicing, then re-chink settled joints and apply breathable finishes that protect the timber while honoring its age.

At 8,825 feet deep in the San Juans, Rico gets a serious mountain winter: heavy snow that banks against cabins for months and deep, sustained cold. The snow creates a persistent band of meltwater along the snow line that feeds moisture into checks, joints, and the lowest log courses, while the cold turns rigid chinking brittle and cracks it. We give the snow-contact zone particular attention and rely on extreme-cold-rated chinking that stays flexible when temperatures plunge, so a long winter does not lead to rot at the base of a historic wall.

Even buried in snow much of the year, Rico takes a strong high-altitude sun, doubled in spring by glare off the snowpack, and that ultraviolet is hard on old, exposed wood. Combined with the sharp daily swings between sunny days and frozen nights, it fades finishes and keeps logs and sealants in constant motion. We use UV-blocking, breathable stains alongside flexible chinking, protecting Rico's historic cabins against deep snow, severe cold, and strong sun all at once.