BEFORE YOU START read this on cleaning your logs prior to any staining
Using a garden, hand pump like this to spray / apply stain on a log home is a bad idea.
Many log home contractor recommend using hardware (garden and weed) hand pumps sprayer for applying log stain. The inexperienced see this as a great way to save money. This is the most idiotic advice you will ever get.
Pro vs Cons
Garden sprayer vs professional HVLP, or fine finishing or high pressure airless system.
Do the math... Garden Sprayer = 10 psi at the top range
AIRLESS sprayer with fine finishing tips = 2500 psi of pressure ( deep pressure treatment), flood coated and hand brush out. I wonder if that garden sprayer could push stain into the cracks of those expensive house logs?
Bottom Line:
For those who are in the planning or in the process of staining any log home... this is the most ridiculous method to stain any log home! NOTE:... I use 1 gallon of stain per 5 log ends each time I pressure spray them with stain.
Can you imagine hanging off a 24 ft high ladder, holding one of these garden jugs and "squirting away in the wind!!! ! I can't believe people building log homes and/or selling log home products recommend a garden pesticide pump to apply stain to a hand made log home! NO WONDER PEOPLE COMPLAIN about products that fail over and over.
If anyone recommends a garden hand pump to apply stain to a log home ( interior, exterior logs, spindles etc), run away.
Proper application of ANY log home staining product is dead critical. I believe most stains and urethane's out there work very well ( similar products, different labels). It is my professional opinion... If a finish fails its applicator error and incorrect weather conditions . Remember this before you start blaming products that fail. I believe its mostly due to one or more of these issues:
Poor weather during applying stain, poor methods of application of stain, and definitely... poor cleaning of the logs before any staining begins. NOTE: If you don't remove the loose saw dust ( which is all over every log), it will flack off and expose untreated logs to weather. Once the moisture gets in, the stain starts failing.
It takes time and hard work to clean all the roughness, loose dust etc off a log home before you stain it. Most people have no idea how to finish a log home (INCLUDING THE LOG HOME BUILDER). If you don't prep the logs well, and DEFINITELY AIR BLAST saw dust out of all the logs ( Top To Bottom)... expect the finish of the log home to fail, prematurely. Expect mold, expect graying and dull looking logs. Expect a second rate finish that looks thirsty a few years down the road.
AND MOST OF ALL... If you use a hand pump garden sprayer like the kind above to apply the finish, expect a VERY WEAK PROTECTION of the logs.
PAINTING Guys: Log Home Finishing Alberta