While the snow is falling outside I’m working on repairing chinking inside the lodge.
Most of the chinking throughout the lodge is in great shape however there are a few spots here and there that are in need of attention. Some areas are simply cosmetic repairs and other areas are in need of being completely re-chinked. As you can see in the photos there has been damage to the chinking along the fireplace and chimney.
Throughout the lodge the chinking is white and uses the same recipe as I have used before except this time I’m using white Portland cement. White Portland may be a little difficult to find. You probably will not find it at your local ‘big box’ building supply. Your best bet on locating white Portland is to contact either a masonry supply or a local cement company.
The process of replacing the chinking is the same as before and I will be posting a video of the actual chinking in progress.
I followed the same steps as I have with previous chinking tasks:
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Gather supplies and materials:
- White Portland
- Masonry Lime
- Masonry Sand
- Insulation
- Boric Acid Powder
- Cement Trough
- Chinking Board
- Masonry Trowel
- Hammer and or Pry Bar
- Paint Stir Stick (for inserting insulation between logs)
- Spray Bottle (to help extend the raw chinking)
- Squeeze Bottle (for applying the boric acid)
- Paper Towel or a rag – (for basic clean up of the logs)
- Drop Cloths
Tools:
Chinking was gently removed as well as loose nails. I certainly do not want to damage the logs so I use a cushion behind the pry bar when prying out chinking.
I dust the area with boric acid and loosely insert new insulation between the logs.
In some areas the electrical conduit runs behind the chinking. I check the integrity of the wiring if all is well I’ll continue however if the electrical needs work this is the time to do it. In this case the electrical was fine.
My next step is to place the nails – I use what ever nails I have on hand but I tend to look for 2″ finishing nails. I place them approximately ever two to three inches alternating the direction. Drive the nail in about half way and bend in the head so that your chinking will
completely cover the nail. Remember this is simply to help secure the chinking.
Once the area has been completely prepared I mix my chinking:
1 part white Portland
3 parts fine masonry sand
1/2 part masonry lime
mix well with enough water to get a consistency so that if you make it into a ball it holds its shape.
I load a chinking board and holding the board to the edge of the chink line I push the material between the logs being sure to get behind the 
nails. I leave space behind the chinking so as not to compress the insulation — I want to keep that gap between the interior and exterior chinking.
I move may way along the horizontal and vertical chink lines. After I have about five feet worth of chink line done I go back and using my trowel I simply smooth it out and wipe off the logs. Then I move onto the next section.
Where the new chinking meets the old chinking I do give the old chinking a bit of a spritz of water so that there is time for the new to bond with the old. Once everything is dry I’ll clean up the old chinking with a little detergent.
I’ll soon post a video of the entire process.
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As a follow up to my earlier post on mixing paint with the concrete, it really made no difference in appearance, texture, or flexibility. Just makes for a very messy way of applying chinking.
is the chinking recipe by volume or by weight?
I handle the chinking material by volume
We just have bought a 1920 square hand cut cedar log home, the logs are between 8″ to 1 feet wide. There is no chinking since it was covered with plywood on the inside and cement with small pieces of glass and metal mesh on the outside. All of that had been removed and now we would love to chink the inside and outside. In between the logs they had put a kind of moss that is now really dry and very had to get to, unless we would use a knive or screwdriver. Before we chink, should we remove that moss, or should we leave it and chink on top of it??? Or would it be better to use a kind of sealer first and then chink??????What would you suggest???and can we use one of your recipe for chinking????We live on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada and our winter is mild and very wet (rainforest), we rarely see snow. Thank you for your help.
On your lodge you said the the chinking was 100 years old. When you removed the old chinking I did not see any nails did they use nails 100 years ago or had they rusted away?
I have a recent construction square timber home, built from re-used logs from the 1850’s, and in the process of restaining, I found that the chinking is a very thin layer of perma-chink, with a Drywall/Plaster backing-filler… this filler is obviously retaining water wherever the perma-chink has been lifted.
I am going to try your recipe for chinking, but was wondering if you had tried to substitute the water for white-latex paint? My thought is that might help keep the chinking a little bit softer, and flexible. Has this been tried? Or am I completely in left field?
Why does chinking crack? We used the recipe 1,3, 1/2, but still some of the chinking cracked. Any ideas?
Any mixture we can use to repair the cracks?
Thanks!
I am thinking of doing a faux log wall in my basement. I will be using rough (maybe cedar boards), or something resembling logs. I will space them out and want to fill in the gaps with chinking. I thought if I was using ordinary drywall mud it would probably end up cracking, so thought I would check out the internet on what was used for chinking logs. Your site is very helpful. If you have any ideas I could use on the best way to do this I would appreciate it. Thanks, Bev