Guidelines to Follow When Log Home Chinking

Do you own a log cabin? If not, do you have any plans of building one? Do you know anything about chinking? Do you have any idea of certain things that every log owner must know before and after owning log cabins?

Indeed, there are a couple of things you can try to learn but one thing’s for sure, you need to realize that log homes need attention. Though it does not mean you have to spend all of your time in log cabin chinking, staining, caulking, re-chinking, re-caulking and more.

Five Guidelines on How to Take Care of Your Log Homes

Listed below are some helpful guidelines you can follow in taking care of your log home cabins:

1. Set up and follow a schedule in maintaining your log homes.
2. Apply log home stain as often as your log cabins need one. Log stain mixtures are quite costly; but in the long run you will realize it helps you save more in preserving the beauty of your log cabins.
3. At some point, you must re-caulk or re-chink your log cabins.
4. There are certain log homes that require more caulking, staining or chinking than others.
5. The log chinking mixture must be compatible with the log staining and the log caulking mixtures. It is better to purchase all the materials from one supplier to make sure you’ll get compatible products.

The best time to perform chinking maintenance is during summer. At least there is one season in every year that you can pamper your dream homes. If you want your log home to serve you well, you also need to treat it well.

Two Considerations before Planning your Chinking

Learning the basic application of chinking does not require any particular experience. Anybody can chink his log cabin as long as he has the ability to seal in any crack on the wood with the chinking mixture. It can be made out of mud combined with some chemical compositions.



As a basic rule, all chinking mixtures must achieve the correct level of softness. This certain quality cannot be attained in freezing temperatures. On the other hand, especially during monsoon weather, too much rainfall during application may also cause frustration. Basically, you should be mindful of the weather before continuing your project and you must also know how to blend and choose the perfect materials for your mixture.



Durability of the Chinking Mixture

Modern acrylic and any foam substance will most likely outlast all natural materials. The elasticity and smoothness of the ready-made mixtures are already proven of good quality. Aside from that, natural materials require intensive labor because they are difficult to maintain.
Cost of Chinking

Materials for log home chinking may cost almost nothing, unlike what a DIY is ready to pay for natural materials. But remember, construction of log homes requires conformity with the law. You must secure a building code number and you will also need a big capital investment.
Nevertheless, chinking is significant in log homes. It brings style, comfort and dependability to every log home owner and his family. So if you are planning to build your log home, learn ahead these two important considerations before doing so.

Chinking: an Art for Your Log Homes

In modern terminology, chinking is commonly referred as the method of covering the walls of log homes in order to protect the inner portion from undesirable environmental conditions. There are various materials that can be used to seal the spaces between the logs. Some are made ready for purchase, while some are from raw materials available for your own mixing. That is why it is better to understand some concept before doing this process.

Let us look into a brief history of chinking

Chinking comes from the old English term “chink” which is related to “crack”. To chink on something simply means to fill in a cracked space. It also aims to protect the walls against any damage that might be caused by extreme weather conditions.

During the past years, log chinking mixtures included materials such as dung, hair, earth, rice, and pine sap. There are also some mixtures that include cement mortar, polystyrene foam and acrylic materials.

The art of chinking

In these days, if chinking log homes is not needed for any weatherproofing purposes, it can still be done as an accent. Thus, it will bring a dramatic visual effect to your log homes. Indeed, there is more use to chink your homes other than protecting the logs.

As you can see, in most log homes or log cabins, precision style is combined with state of the art design. That is how DIY chinking enthusiasts and conventional builders appreciate and respect the importance of doing a good log chink.

Log Chinking 101: What are Backer Rods?

Care for your log house is the major concern that you should be dealing with if you do own one. Just like any other houses, log cabins should be taken care of so that it will last for years. Log chinking is one the basic things that you can do to make your house beautiful and preserve its aesthetic beauty. There are lots of chinking materials readily available in the market, manufactured by different sealant manufacturers.



Backer rods are synthetic foams used as bond breakers so that there would be spaces that chinking won’t stick to. These are placed between logs prior to chinking or caulking. In the long run, chinking will free itself from the backer rods as the logs shrink or expand. It can also be used as insulation.

Backer rods comes in various sizes and types to suit particular needs. There are round, triangle and trapezoid shapes. Generally, there are two kinds of backer rods available in the market – the closed cell and the open cell types.


Closed cell backer rods are polyethylene round foam commonly used for smaller joints range, and have higher insulation capacities compared to that of open cell backer rods. Chinking compounds will not stick to closed cell backer rods, thus allowing free movements in logs and chinks.


Open cell backer rods are softer and more pliable types compared to closed cell backer rods, and can be compressed to fit various diameters of gaps. These are much easier to install, and are breathable thus requiring less time for curing. These are generally designed for interior use. However, these types do not possess good insulation properties compared to closed cell backer rods.


Knowing the right type of backer rods to use is one of the keys in achieving the success of log chinking. If you want to gain more knowledge regarding excellent log house care and which chinking materials are best to use, you can check out several sites in the Internet.

Why Must Chinking Be Done?

Log cabins offer a very homely and relaxed atmosphere. Do you wonder why they last for so a long time looking unworn and shiny throughout many years from it being built? Chinking does it, you know. It’s the process where the crevices and the gaps that are in between the logs are properly filled with elastic material to make sure they’re sealed from many unwanted natural elements. You wouldn’t want moisture, air, and water seep through the wooden material. Just imagine how weather changes overtime and how it affects the log cabin’s materials of such house type.

Why do we have to do some log cabin chinking? It’s just very simple. A log cabin wouldn’t be one without the right protection and structure that it needs. It is just like concrete houses which are built with cement. Log cabins cannot be made and left just as that. If it is painting for the concrete house, it is chinking and finishing with the log cabin.

Chinking has to be done to make sure that spots are carefully sealed so the house won’t be in danger of natural element infiltration. This is because further damage on the material will be caused by such elements. The insulation of the cabin will also be affected.

Nobody wants such damages to happen, right? Not only would it mean maintenance, it would also mean that there will be more expenses in the future! So if you want to own a log cabin, never miss out the chinking part!

Chinking matters big time

Chinking may be such a strange word for some. But this is an important process needed to be done with log cabins. It’s actually the way to seal and fill the gaps in between logs that make up one’s home. Various unwanted natural elements may go through the gaps of the logs and owners would not want to see and feel that. Eventually, if insects continue to go through, as well as moisture, dust and water, the organic material will be damaged. The maintenance is pretty expensive so it will be best to start up with chinking while the house is being polished and finished.

There are a lot of means of applying the chinking material. It can be scooped from the container and then it can be applied with the use of a spatula or metal. But if it is very inconvenient for you to do it yourself, do not worry. Other ways to chink your log cabin are certainly available.

Chinking guns and other machines can be of good use. In fact, the work could be easier with them! They can also be found in many home depots and not only those depots over simple chinking materials. They come in a variety of permanent ones and finishing materials also. The paint that can be applied for the chinking material also comes in many colors. So there goes what chinking does and how much it matters.

For those who want to get themselves a cozy and relaxing log cabin in the future, arm yourselves with the right information about it!

Chinking Recipe: A Do It Yourself (DIY) Homemade Mixture

Chinking products can be made from a solution similar to a cement mixture. In fact, it can be done on your own provided you have the proper tools and materials. In this way, saves your time from going to the stores and money in paying for the mixtures.

What are the benefits of creating a homemade chinking? First, it costs lesser than buying ready made mixtures. It also has a better quality performance compared to synthetic mixtures. You can keep the remaining mixture and use it for restoration purposes because it can last all year round.Recipe for Homemade Chinking

These are the ingredients and materials which you will need:

• First mixture: water, cement supply, masonry lime and sand
• Second mixture: water, stock of ashes, clay and silt
• Materials: large size wheelbarrow, shovel, working gloves, heavy duty boots, and putty knife.

There are two mixtures which you can follow. The second one is a more historic or authentic recipe used for log cabins that was built many years ago. Both offer a stable commercial like mixture and a cost effective homemade like substance.

1. Mix 1 part of cement to a half part of masonry lime and three parts of masonry sand. Pour in enough amount of water; combine the mixture until you can attain a consistency similar to cookie dough. It must not be too wet as not to slide through the chinks during application.
2. Mix two parts clay, a half part of silt and one part of ash. You need to sift the ashes to get rid of rock-solid pieces. Pour enough amount of water to create a thick solution. Combine until you can attain a consistency similar to wet cement.

Chinking log homes can be made during the construction or few years after. It does the finishing touches to your log cabins. It can also warm your homes and protect from harm against any bugs and strong weather conditions.