Cleaning old wood can be tricky. I have found that many commercial wood cleaners can be much too harsh. I don’t want to raise the grain and end up with a fuzzy surface nor do I want to damage the underlying finish if there is one.

Pressure washing on a log home is out of the question.

The task at hand here is to clean the old logs on the veranda. They have probably never been cleaned and are mostly black from years of soot and general grime from when this place was a tavern and relied on coal and wood to heat.

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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.

Read more for a chinking recipe

Chinking a log home is actually an easy thing to do. Think of it like icing a cake.

As you may have read in one of my earlier posts, I am not a fan of pre-made synthetic chinking or synthetic chinking of any kind. I make my own chinking with a simple mix of portland cement, sand and lime.

Before adding water I tend to mix all the ingredients together in my trough - you don’t have to as its just a quirky thing I do.

The consistency that I’m trying to achieve is like that of thick peanut butter. I want to be able to mix just enough water to it so that when I form a ball of the mix with my hands — it holds.

Read more for the chinking recipe

In previous posts we have removed old deteriorated chinking, cleaned the logs, stabilized and repaired wood where needed, even replaced a small section of log.

Now in preparation to chink the logs and seal up the wall I’m going to re-inspect the entire area again and clean-up any remaining debris and look for any section I have missed.

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As you know in my last post I had to remove a log that was rotten beyond repair.

I contacted my local arborist this morning and was able to get my hands on an 8″ diameter 24″ Ash log. Perfect.

I trimmed the log to fit and beveled the ends as in the rest of the logs. The cut, being fresh and as of yet unstained appears a little larger than the bevels of other logs however they match perfectly.

After trimming and beveling the log I wedged it in place and drove spikes down through the log into the log below as well as spiked it from the top. In addition I drove in spikes from the sides thereby securing the log and wall completely.

Read more about replacing a rotted log

On this project there is one log that will need to be replaced as it is beyond repair. I could use the Liquid Wood to stabilize and harden it - but the face of the log has deteriorated to the point that I would not be able to rebuild it. If the face of the log were to be painted then I could rebuild using WoodEpox - shaping to mimic the wood then paint - but since this is natural wood that is not an option.

In some cases I have actually removed just the face of the log and after stabilizing the wood - replaced the face.

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In this step I will apply a two part bonding agent that will strengthen any deteriorated wood.

I use a product called Liquid Wood. This stuff is quite familiar to those doing architectural restoration work as it is the best stuff out there. I have used it on a multitude of projects from stabilizing and preserving unique wood work to stabilizing and strengthening critical members.

read more on stregthening rotted wood

Taking advantage of the dry weather, I return to tackle repairing a span of logs that are in great need of attention.

On the earlier post I displayed some photos of the log situation. There are rotten logs, excessive moisture, and rotted chinking that have all taken their toll on the section in question.

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What is log home chinking? Chinking is the material that is commonly visible between the courses of logs on many log structures. Not all log structures use chinking.

The purpose of chinking is to (simplified explanation) fill the gaps between logs, seal out the weather, wind etc., provide an insulation barrier, and in some cases - depending on the style of construction - simply aesthetic.

There are many materials used for chinking including various mixtures of mortar to manufactured synthetic ‘chinking’.

Synthetic chinking is a latex-based polymer offered by many log home companies. It is designed to adhere to the log at two points - top and bottom - or in other words to the log above and below the chinking material. Synthetic chinking remains relatively flexible and as long as there is a good bond to the logs should expand and contract - and stretch to maintain the bond.

Read more about log home chinking materials

Here at Bearfort Lodge I am tackling replacing chinking and fixing logs.

A quick review of Bearfort Lodge: Built over one hundred years ago in a butt and pass construction method (I believe to be the best method - although some will disagree).

Butt and Pass method alternates full natural logs. When a course of logs meets at a corner - the butt end of one log butts up against the adjacent log which passes beyond the corner. On the next course the adjacent log butts up against while the other passes beyond the corner as seen in this photo.

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