The Bostic Log - Cabins and Homes

The Bostic Log – Mountain Cabins and Homes

(A Series on Mountain Living in Bostic, NC)

By McCall’s Real Estate

Over the next few months, McCall’s Real Estate will offer a series of short articles on Mountain living in Bostic, North Carolina. These articles will address real estate issues like buying and selling mountain homes and land, decorating and maintaining log homes, and the dream of owning a cabin verses the reality of living in one, to name a few. Join us often. It will be like a chat by a fire in an open hearth; warm, engaging, and always inviting you to stay awhile.

3.    How to Care for a Cabin

If you’ve chosen to move to Bostic, NC, and have built or bought a log cabin/home in Yellowtop Mountain Estates, Golden Valley Estates, The Summit, or South Mountain Peaks, you’re enjoying a beautiful mountain summer. You’re probably spending your free time picnicking, hiking, golfing, boating or simply porch sitting with a view. The last thing on your mind is log home maintenance. And it should be. Summer time is play time ‘round here. However, you can’t put it off forever. That maintenance list you made will start calling by summer’s end. You don’t have a list? You may borrow mine.

 

Log Cabin/Home Maintenance List

·        Perform maintenance checks in the spring and fall. In the spring, look for winter damage from snow, freezing, chimney use, etc. and ready the home for summer temperatures and UV exposure. In the fall, look for summer damage from hard rains, high temperatures, and insects, wasps, carpenter bees, etc. and ready the home for winter temperatures.

·         Helpful tools for a maintenance check: Make a rough sketch of the exterior walls labeled North, South, East, West, garage with space to note maintenance needs on each side. Buy blue painter’s tape to mark locations needing maintenance. Use a digital camera or phone camera to take pictures of areas in question.

·         Check to see if the stain is still working. Spot-check by spraying a little bit of water on the logs — if it beads up, you know the finish is still good. If not, it’s time to apply a new coat. A pigmented coat of water repellent stain will last longer than clear. Remember, exterior walls weather unevenly, depending on exposure to sunlight and water. All things being equal, the North and East sides of the cabin require the least maintenance.

·         Watch for cracks. Cracks allow water into the wood and the wood will eventually rot. Fix cracks by filling them to absorption with stain and caulk.

·         Check your window and door weather stripping to make sure it’s in good shape.

·         Inspect your roof. Check the flashing in valleys, around the chimney and areas enclosing plumbing vents to ensure a tight seal against water.

·         Seal exposed timbers. The ends of exposed timbers are susceptible to rot. Check and reseal these every year. Pay special attention to log ends on the underside of eaves that are flush with or extend past the overhang.

·         Clean gutters

·         Trim vegetation away from walls to help keep the logs dry.

·         Pest infestations should be investigated and addressed before it becomes a problem.

Cleaning exterior walls is important to appearance. It gets rid of grime and pollen and helps prevent growth of mold and algae. Also, it’s easier to spot problem areas if the exterior walls are clean. Before washing, inspect the caulking. Re-apply where it is cracked or broken away from the logs. It is important to do this first so that when you wash you aren't forcing water into the joints of your logs

When you clean the exterior walls, do it in ways that cause the least harm to the finish.

·         Use mild cleaners as strong cleaners may damage the finish. Try the solution in an inconspicuous area first to ensure it will not cause damage. A liquid log cleaner like X-180 (oxalic acid) or Log Wash works well. These cleaners are specifically for logs and the PH of the cleaners are very close to the PH of the wood in order to work effectively without damaging it.

·         Do not use Bleach or Ammonia based products because they:

o    Destroy lignin in the wood.

o    Can permanently remove color.

o    May make the finish look spotty after washing.

o    May cause streaks to develop on the surface of your wood.

·      Always use a mist setting on water nozzles, not a forceful jet – do not pressure wash your cabin unless it is for the purpose of removing all mildew, dirt, pollen and other contaminants prior to reapplying sealants, stain, etc. If you use a high pressure washer on your logs, you run the risk of tearing up the surface by splitting the wood fibers and leaving it with a "fuzzy" appearance. 

·         Always use soft bristled brushes and non-abrasive pads for cleaning.

This is the process for cleaning your log cabin:

1. Work an area small enough so that the cleaning solution is on the logs for no more than 

10-15 minutes.

2. Wet the wall with spray from your hose.

3. Apply the cleaning solution with a sprayer, starting at the bottom of the wall and working your way up.

4. Gently scrub the wall with your brush.

5. Thoroughly rinse the cleaner from the top down. This helps prevent blotches and drip marks.

Log cabin/home maintenance does not have to take a lot of time. If your home is designed properly, you will save a lot of work. Large overhangs, porches, proper landscaping, and tall foundations will prevent maintenance nightmares. A log home is not a conventional home and will require non-conventional maintenance, but you can design and plan for this. The most important thing is to clean. Keep dust, pollen and mold off your logs. If you are consistent you can stay on top maintenance and you’ll prevent small issues from becoming costly replacement problems later on.

Below is a shining example of a beautifully maintained log home – and it’s for sale!

Hunter's Haven

Overview Maps Photos Features Neighborhood

$239,900 Single Family Home Main Features 3 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms Interior: 2,010 sqft Lot: 2.94 acre(s) Location 762 Valleyview Drive Bostic, NC 28018 USA

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Karen D. McCall McCall's Real Estate (828) 245-9003 kdmccall@gmail.com http://www.KDMcCall.com         Listed by: Karen McCall

Our recent listings A True Sanctuary Morning Glory Nurture your Spirit in this Rustic Retreat Where Vintage meets Value Expansive View and Lovely Sunsets Subscribe to our listing feed

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Below is a shining example of a beautifully maintained log home – and it’s for sale!

KS's Seller's Newsletter, May 2013

Hi There,

You haven’t heard from me lately because all of a sudden I’m in a hot market, well… the bottom of the market is hot. The question is will the heat rising from the bottom bubble to the top? It’s inevitable, isn’t it?

By now, you know I’m an optimist…

And then this:

The Ridge at South Mountain is in Foreclosure

 April 30, 2013, and a Notice of Foreclosure takes an entire page of the Daily Courier from top to bottom. All of the unsold land, in The Ridge at South Mountain, a very fine development, will be sold on the courthouse steps. And what will this do to Rutherford County? It depends. It depends on who buys the property, if another developer picks it up to hold for resale, or if the bank sells the lots piecemeal, and that too, depends, on whether they release the lots onto the market slowly, two or three at a time, or dump all of the parcels at once. Will they hold them in inventory for a few years or release them right away? That remains to be seen. And there’s nothing to be done for it, so I’ll keep on keeping on.

In the interim, the bottom of the market is hot. Properties priced lower than the market value are selling. People are shopping for deals and they’re finding some. Transactions have become more difficult as banks lay on more and sometimes onerous guidelines. A lot of deals are falling apart on the way to the closing table and some right at the closing table. But I am in the business of helping people buy and sell real estate and except for keeping an eye on the weather, there’s not much I can do about all that, so I am here, taking fresh pictures, enhancing properties on the internet, and doing what I can do to market the properties I have listed. And toward that end I am playing with the big boys in the industry, listing aggregate giants, Zillow, Trulia, Homes.com and to a lesser extent Realtor.com. I have a paid subscription to Zillow advertising my services and I’m getting calls. As more people begin their search on the internet, they say 90%, it makes playing with the big boys worth while.

There are still problems with geocoding in the rural areas. I have your latitudes and longitudes in the MLS and on file, but sometimes I sit in the living room on Sunday night with my laptop manually mapping your properties so they’ll show up in mobile searches in the right places. So far there’s no app for that.

Someone said at our board meeting that I must have a lot of free time to attend to all of this technical stuff. Not really. We all have 1440 minutes in a day. Last night around 10 pm I was online figuring out how to hook a dual monitor system to the newest computer in my arsenal and this morning I was here before 6 am writing to you. I have to go to the office today for a business meeting and to preview homes we have listed. My new housekeeper asked me how I could work at this pace, and I told her, half the time I’m playing. I work awfully hard to be able to play at this level. Yesterday morning I was up on Cherry Mountain to talk with two potential sellers, and what a gorgeous spring day it was! Iris and some wild azaleas are blooming; the mountain laurel is covered with buds. There were ducks, and a pony, and dogs, both large and small, there were chickens and running streams and springs and lovely people. I made some new friends and came home with a dozen fresh eggs! It wasn’t like work at all – it was like a mini-vacation. So, yeah, I do put in some awkward hours, but I enjoy it, and that, as Robert Frost said, that makes all the difference.

Karen D McCall, Broker, e-PRO®
4 Seasons Homes and Land, Inc

Mobile 828 429-0251 Direct or Text
GVH Office 828 245-9003
KDMcCall.com

PS  Friends, I haven’t ever asked for you to recommend me to your friends and family members, because I know most of you live far away, but I’m going to ask you on the behalf of the buyers and sellers I may, through you, be able to help. If you run across my profile on Trulia or Zillow (and you can do that by visiting the website and plugging in the zip code here, 28018) and review my service, it would help me, and consequently the higher ranking in the site will generate more phone calls, which will in turn help you. Thanks.

Welcome Friends

Welcome! Beides old newsletter posts you will find lots of information on the real estate blog: http://kdsfarm.blogspot.com . It’s nice to have posts handy, like Home Staging Tips and Can You Say Syndication? And I can post things and reference them without being redundant. As unstable as the real estate market is today it’s good to know there are some things we can count on.

Data feeds. Here’s something we can count on. Like Murphy’s Law, “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.” If there’s a data field in your listing that says 3.5 acres, it may be picked up by some sites as 3 acres, and some as .35, and some not at all. This is due to the vast difference in mapping data fields. If you match A to A, there’s no problem, but it you’re using the alphabet and you go to 27 well, then… things just got interesting. I can not map data fields in our system or change how they are mapped, but I can make corrections if needed in the MLS and sometimes by logging into an outside account I can turn off fields. As real estate becomes standardized across the nation we will see some improvements, until then, bear with me. If you find your listing on a website with something weird in it, let me know. I’ll fix it if I can and if not, we can get pretty creative in the public remarks.

To those of you who have had your lots cleaned up thank you. Local landscape firm owner/operator Clayton Self has completed several. If you’d like to keep him on for maintenance, Clayton will be happy to put you on a regular schedule. Since he lives in Bostic and his crews start and end up here, he can swing by your lots, and get these small jobs without sending an entire crew from town. Call him early in the morning 828 245-5213; you‘ll probably have to call before 8 to get him. Call later and his wife, Pansy, will take your call and have him call you. If I need to meet him or direct him to your property let me know and we’ll get together. Clayton is NOT the only firm in the area, Scott Mayhew with All Quality Landscaping 828 245-9245 and Brad Ford 828 245-9309 with BRS Landscaping are both excellent. These are all local companies. I can only recommend firms because of the problems that arise if someone gets hurt doing a job for you on your property. An accident could be charged against your homeowner’s insurance – lot owners? That could get as complicated as data field mapping. I don’t want to go there.

I’ve been really busy getting things together so someone can step into my shoes and run my business for a few weeks. Dropbox has been a large part of that and I’ve nearly met my 2GB limit. Dropbox is a file sharing program that synchs automatically across several devices. I have it on my desktop, laptop, and smartphone. Files are always available and I don’t have to duplicate an upload because they synch. I can add documents from any of my devices and they’ll be in my Dropbox folder. If you need file storage “In the Cloud” Dropbox will host up to 2 GB for you free. I’m soon going to need more storage and you can help me get it for free. Dropbox will bonus me and help you get started with a free account and plus a 250 MB bonus if you’ll join with my link: http://db.tt/3ZwnKPu  Remember to install Dropbox in your computer after signing up, otherwise we won’t get the 250MB bonus.

If all goes as planned I will be having my left hip replaced June 26^th. I have lined up buyer’s agents, Teresa Lederer and David Brackett, and my United Country Broker / Owner, Annette Stover (who can help with anything at all) 828 286-2313 while I’m out. I am having the least invasive, anterior, procedure and expect to be using a walker for a couple of weeks. Since it is typically slow here in the summer, with a peak in the spring and in the fall, this is the best time for me to have this done. So, I’m taking a two week “staycation” and taking care of me. I’ll return to limited duty after two weeks and expect to be back at my desk in four and hopping rocks across creeks in eight. If you need me you may reach me at home. 828 245-3886.

Someone called and said they were publishing a menu for Becky’s Country Store and asked if I was interested. When I found out I could run my QR code which opens my personal website, and gives me an opportunity to invite buyers to Be My Guest and use the MLS on me, for free, I decide to try it. KDMcCall will run on a smart phone. Let’s see if I get any calls. (Proof Attached).

There’s always something happening in real estate. I like to send my Newsletter out the first week of every month. The reason this letter didn’t get out the first week of the month is because I had buyers and sellers.

This is a good thing!

Hope you are well and that life is treating you fine and remember if you don’t hear from me, I need to hear from you.

Best,

 KD McCall