Add a Log-Specific Inspection to Any Home Inspection

A cosmetic inspection answers how the home presents and how its finish is holding up: faded or chalky stain, surface graying, tired chinking lines, and the curb-appeal items that drive a re-coat or a refresh. A structural inspection answers the deeper question — whether the logs are sound, whether moisture has reached bare wood, and whether anything load-bearing is compromised.

On most Colorado log homes the two are connected. A failed finish on a south wall is cosmetic until water reaches the wood; then it becomes structural. That is why we evaluate both in the same visit and tell you plainly where a home sits on that line — still cosmetic, or already structural.

A general inspector does important work on the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, roof, and foundation — and we never replace that. What we add is the one part of the house a conventional inspection cannot judge: the log walls themselves. Pairing the two means no part of the home goes unevaluated.

Because Thomas Elliott has spent 20+ years restoring Colorado log homes, he reads the envelope the way a mechanic reads an engine. That specialized eye routinely surfaces issues — failing joints, hidden rot, incompatible finishes — that a general inspection would never be equipped to flag.

Almost every older log home has a maintenance history written on its walls. Part of our job is reading it: which elevations were re-stained and when, whether the chinking was done correctly or skipped, and whether past repairs solved a problem or just hid it. Stain rolled over soft wood, concrete patched into a rotted log, or a wall that was never chinked at all are all things we have seen and know to look for.

Knowing what was done — and what was missed — changes the plan. It tells you whether you are inheriting solid work that needs maintenance, or shortcuts that need to be undone and redone properly before they cost more.

Log walls have real thermal mass, but a log home only performs when the envelope is sealed. Open checks, failed chinking, and gaps at log ends let conditioned air leak out and weather in, which shows up directly on your heating bills and as cold drafts inside. We trace those leaks and tell you which sealing work will actually move the needle on comfort and efficiency.

Above all, we give you a straight answer to the question that matters most: should this home be maintained, or does it need restoration? Maintenance — periodic cleaning, re-staining, and chinking touch-ups — runs roughly $8–12 per square foot per cycle. Full restoration, where logs are media blasted back to sound wood, repaired, re-stained, and re-chinked, runs $18–20+ per square foot, plus $500–$5,000+ for any log that has to be replaced. Our report tells you which side of that line your home is on, and what it takes to keep it there.