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restoration

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.

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Replacing a Rotted Log 1Replacing a rotten log on a log home is no easy task. However it is an unfortunate task that sometimes may have to be tackled. Luckily there have been only a couple of logs that have needed to be replaced on this 100+ year old structure.

Here at the lodge a base log was in great need of repair. Being that the logs are all American Chestnut – which no longer grows to any size here in the U.S. since the blight that wiped them out in the 1920s and Replacement of a Rotted Log 230s – a suitable replacement has to be located.

I choose Ash as a replacement. It has a similar grain as Chestnut and blends well. Ash also takes stain much the same and once stained its difficult to differ between the two. It provides very straight logs and is a nice hard wood with that I can easily obtain. Suffice it to say that I love getting my hands on a fine piece of Ash.

The log in question is a base log. A base log is the first log in contact with the foundation.

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Return from Vacation

I have been away for the last month. Good to be back but lots to do.
Over the past several weeks I had the opportunity to visit Georgia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York State, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts and have taken a look at a number of log homes and other restoration projects as well as [...]

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Log Home Chinking: The Season Begins

I have been away for a while.
Now that the weather is, for the most part, staying consistently warm it is time to continue with re-chinking exterior of the lodge.
Over the past several days I have taken an inspection walk around the outside and examined chinking. The original chinking is still intact however there [...]

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Log Home Repair & Restoration: Protecting Logs Part I – The Problem with Painted Logs

There are a few ways to protect your logs from the elements but I cannot stress enough that painting is not one of them. If you are looking to refinish your log home and some hack of a restoration guy comes along and suggests painting it will help improve its looks and protect it – [...]

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Log Home Repair & Restoration: Replacing Chinking and Fixing Logs Part V – Insulating and Preparing Logs Before Chinking

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 [...]

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Craftsman Tile: Happening Upon The Beauty of Tile

When I was on my travels recently I stumbled into and artisan creating prairie style tiles. I saw so many beautiful tiles – makes me want to go out and get a bungalow so that I can use them *grin*. Ahh perhaps the next project.
I have always loved the craftsman style home, prairie style, [...]

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Log Home Repair & Restoration: Replacing Chinking and Fixing Logs Part III – Stabilizing and Strengthening Rotted Wood

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 [...]

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Log Home Repair & Restoration: Replacing Chinking and Fixing Logs Part II

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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Log Home Repair & Restoration: A Note About Chinking

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 [...]

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