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The chinking continues here at the lodge.

I have been replacing chinking damaged by the previous owner who smeared the original chinking with synthetic material. The synthetic chinking trapped moisture within causing the original material to disintegrate. For the initial chinking I make mine light on water — I just want it wet enough that when I form a ball with it - it holds.

The old material that I removed is damp and falls apart like sandstone and the logs in the affected area are also damp, wet or worse and need to be dried, stabilized and repaired.

I’m sure that the previous owners did not realize what they were doing or perhaps they just didn’t care and were looking for the easy way out.

I have been removing chinking and prepping the logs as described in earlier posts and using my home made chinking.

To make your own chinking mix 1 part portland cement with 3 parts masonry sand with 1/2 part masonry lime.

I follow the same steps as described in earlier posts making sure to cover the nail heads. Once an area has cured I’ll go back and using slightly loose mix and fill any missed gaps - I’ll come back again after that has cured to give the final swipe with a white mix to match the original as well as clean the logs of any cement residue. Although it may seem or sound like a great deal of work it goes extremely fast.

The part that takes a long time is prepping the logs. Some logs are damp or wet from the trapped moisture behind the synthetic junk. These logs have to be dried out and when necessary repaired or stabilized.

I’m also re-chinking the logs around the door after peeling away the synthetic crap and discovering more damage. As you can see I still have to work my way up and around the window frame. that will be finished up by later this evening. The chinking here will cure to a light gray however, when I am finished with the project the chinking will be mortar white.

Another advantage to using true chinking is that I can do this at anytime of year. With synthetic chinking I can only chink if the temperature is just right - fall has arrived here at the lodge the days are much cooler and evenings are crisp. Had I been using synthetic out-of-the-pail material, I would not be able to continue.

The site here receives a great deal of traffic from people doing searches on chinking via Google or Yahoo. I am curious as to your chinking project and would love to hear about your experiences. Feel free to post a comment or email me and ill get it posted here on the site.