We recently bought a red pine log home in VT built in 1978. It was corn blasted, repaired, caulked, and stained using a Transformation oil based stain. The variation in color from log to log is more than I care for, some logs coming out too dark relative to others. I have been told that you can’t use semi-solid or solid stains on logs as it won’t allow the logs to breath. Is this correct?
Yes you can use solid stain. You just should never use paint or oil based solid stains. I’m not a fan of any oil based stain. The color difference could be due to the stripping process not cleaning the logs evenly, or it could just be different grain in the wood. If there were logs replaced, they can be tricky to blend in with a semi transparent stain also.