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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

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.

Read more about repairing a rotted log