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

Replacing 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 30s - 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.

Read more on replacing a rotted log

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 take a look at some log homes of some of the readers of Bearfort Lodge.

It was so exciting and I’m looking forward to sharing the experience with you. So - here I am and I’ve got a tremendous amount of updating to do as well as answer numerous emails from readers with questions. I see about 50 or 60 emails in my in-box to which I need to attend.

My apologies to Eunice - What a fantastic and beautiful email - I am responding to your questions on your log home in Ontario. With your permission I would love to post your email here on the site.

Read more on reader responses

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 are areas in which chinking will need to be removed and new chinking applied.

As you know I use my own mixture for chinking and not the commercially available synthetic chinking. There are previous posts that explain my reasoning.

Read more about log home chinking

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 - quickly escort him off of your property.

If you are on the market looking at log cabins and fall in love with one that has been painted - take heed and think hard as you may be in for a rude awakening. Some painted log cabins are salvageable while others may have rotted beyond reasonable repair. Paint can hide a host of problems and there may be a very good reason that they were painted.

Read more on the problem of painted logs

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.

read more on preparing logs for chinking

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, the bungalow. Being a frequent visitor and avid reader of Houseblogs.net I have had peeks of some absolutely beautiful bungalows and enjoyed both reading about and seeing the work that people are doing in their renovations. I have posted links to some of the sites that I have been following in the side bar.

Read and see more photos of craftsman tile

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.

Read more about repairing a rotted log

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