Mark just sent me an email asking about chinking, insulation, boric acid and preservatives for a log barn project he is working on.

Mark writes:

i have an old log open barn the logs are from 1-5 inches apart it is 18 by 20 by 10 feet high i would like your chinking recipe and your insulation idea and the purpose of using boric acid also what is a good sealer to use on the chink and logs to seal it after you are done

Hello Mark and thanks for the question!

I’m going to stick my neck out and assume that the logs on the barn are hand hewn. With that in mind you may want to check out the section on Hand Hewn Chinking for starters.

More chinking info for Mark

A reader of Bearfort Lodge recently sent me this wonderful email and photos of their beautiful work - Stunning! - Here is their email and photos.

Hi there! Using your mortar mix suggestions and simple steps, laid back attitude, and easy tofollow article - we have finally re-chinked the logs under our porch!

Thanks to you - after two years of researching methods and what to use and how to do - yours was the simplest and best.

Read more about this beautiful chinking project

Recently a reader asked a question about chinking a hand hewn log home:

Am trying to figure out what is best to seal between logs [our log home is 100+ yrs. old.]. Most important consideration is keeping rodents out. .. Am sealing from the inside because clapboards are still outside. How can I apply mortar without it dripping out? .. Will Permachink keep rodents out?

Sounds like a great project Brian…

I dont know how large your logs are — but lets assume that they are anywhere from 8″ to 10″ tall by about 6″ thick. The gap between the logs may be about 8 ” on average as well.

Traditionally the space would be filled with a mixture of rocks and mud or rocks and mortar.

Read more on log home chinking

It is always exciting to hear from readers of Bearfort Lodge.

Not too long ago I heard from the Ryans who had left a comment on a previous post– [Just purchased and starting to renovate an 1830's log "dog-trot" farm house. Can't tell you how much your articles on log restoration and chinking have helped us. We don't feel quite so overwhelmed now. Thanks.]

I contacted them to thank them for their comment, express my excitement over their project and offer further chinking information should they need it. I learned that they had purchased what they thought was a standard construction 1830s farmhouse with the desire to restore. It was when they started to dig in that they learned what they actually had was a log home….

Below is the email and photos -

Read more about the Ryans' hand hewn home

I received an amazing email from someone that had purchased a home and soon discovered upon beginning restoration and remodeling that underneath the clapboard siding was a hand-hewn log home. What an exciting find!

Some may grimace at such a find as it does open up a host of unanticipated situations with which they must tackle beyond the norm of home restoration. A find such as this may also drastically change the original plans.

Hand-hewn log homes are a different beast than the typical log home. Where natural logs (round logs) are used to build a home the intention is to leave the logs exposed - no further siding would be used. But historically the hand hewn log home was a method used to construct walls - both interior and exterior to which an exterior or interior wall surface would be adhered. The log construction was merely a method but not intended as a finished surface.

Read more about chinking hand hewn log homes