Cleaning Up Chinking Lines

As time and weather pass, chink lines on your log cabin or log home that were once strikingly bright may become dirty and dingy. Sometimes a simple wash and scrub will clean it up and get the chinking looking new. If that isn't enough, if some log stain got onto your chinking, or you just want to change its color, you can apply a liquified, paintable chinking product. There is a pre-mixed Chink-Paint available to save you time and hassle, or there is a recipe to make it yourself and save money.

Apply Pre-Mixed Chink Paint:




Chink-Paint is an elastomeric, textured coating for renewing or changing the color of chinking. Ideal for giving your log home a face-lift by brightening the appearance of old, dirty chinking, or altering the color of existing chinking. Chink-Paint’s elasticity enables it to expand and contract with Perma-Chink chinking or Energy Seal without cracking or peeling. When restoring an older home, it saves time and money by eliminating the need to mask off the chinking before staining. Simply wait for the stain to dry and then apply a coat of Chink-Paint in the color you desire.



Make Your Own Paint-On Chinking:


As explained by Sashco, "It’s easy to make your own Log Jam® chink paint on site.  And since mixing your own costs 1/3 less than buying pre-mixed chink paint, it’s the smart money-saving choice.

Simply follow the instructions below, then apply over any water-based chinking*.

PREPARATION:

Be sure that all chink lines are clean and dry, and free of waxes, mold, mildew, dust, pollen, and other contaminants.

MIXING INSTRUCTIONS:

Large Volume (Yield: approx. 5 gal. mixed)
1) Remove and set aside 1 gallon of chinking from a 5 gallon pail.
2) Add one gallon of distilled water back into the pail.
3) Using a high viscosity mixing blade, thoroughly mix the water and chinking.
4) Add additional water or chinking (in small increments) to “dial in” your preferred viscosity.

Small Volume (Yield: approx. 1 quart mixed)
1) Gun out entire contents of one 29 oz. cartridge of chinking into any large plastic container (such as a clean 1 gal. ice cream bucket).
2) Add in ½ pint (8 oz.) of distilled water
3) Using a mixing blade or a typical kitchen hand-held mixer, thoroughly mix the water and chinking.
4) Add additional water or chinking (in small increments) to “dial in” your preferred viscosity.
Floetrol®, a common additive used in the paint industry, can be used in place of water, if desired.  Resulting mixture will not be noticeably different. (Floetrol® is a registered trademark of the Akzo Nobel group of companies.)

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: 
1) Using a foam paint brush, paint pad or trowel (whichever you prefer), apply the chink paint and smooth onto the chink line.
2) Clean off any drips or runs immediately so they don’t dry on the wood and stain it.
3) Allow to thoroughly dry.  Cover exterior walls with plastic if rainfall is expected within 24 hours after installation.

COVERAGE RATES: 
Joint Width:                 3/4”   1” 1-1/2” 2”   3”
Lineal Feet per 1 gal.: 1760 1320 880 660 440

*Tested for compatibility with Sashco’s Log Jam chinking.  Always test first if using a different product.

Carpenter Bee Control in Log Homes

For Log Homes, the large carpenter bees or Xylocopa do the most damage, boring approximately 1/2" diameter tunnels into logs and other wood surfaces including decks, overhangs, fence rails, etc. Carpenter Bee tunnels become a threat for infestation of wood-decaying fungi or other insects, such as carpenter ants.

Treatments: Insecticidal sprays and dusts such as those included in the Carpenter Bee Kit are available. These types of products may need to be applied every couple of weeks for awhile to ensure effectiveness. Apply them at night while the hive is asleep for maximum impact. Beware that some insecticides have been banned but not yet removed from store shelves. Consider the potential health risks of using such poisons in your home (young children are the most susceptible). If you have an exterminator do the job professionally, find out what they are using and if those insecticides have been banned in your area. If you are having or have had problems with Carpenter bees, consider adding NBS 30 to your finish when you recoat your house again. If chemicals aren't your bag, you can give the kids a project with a couple of fly swatters. The males don't sting and the females are known to be more reluctant to stinging, unlike other bees, wasps, and hornets.

However you choose to rid your logs of carpenter bees, consider spraying Tim-bor or Shell Guard RTU in the tunnels afterwards to help guard against wood-decaying fungi. Just mix up some Tim-bor in a spray bottle, pump sprayer, or squeeze bottle and administer it into the holes. Also, be sure to seal off the tunnel entrances by pounding in wooden dowels or by using Caulking, wood putty, or by mixing WoodEpox and sawdust.

Event: The Lost Forty

We are excited to be sponsoring an evening of north woods music heralding back to the age of the lumberjack. The Lost Forty will be playing April 11 at the Myles Reif Performing Arts Center in Grand Rapids.

A native of the northern Minnesota town of Bemidji, Brian Miller teams up with Wisconsinite Randy Gosa as The Lost Forty. The Lost Forty revives and performs the Irish-influenced songs of men who roamed the Great Lakes region in the days when pine was king. Miller (Bua) and Gosa (Myserk) have toured the US with their Irish traditional music groups. Together they mix a passion for northwoods history and folklore with their love of arranging forgotten songs to bring to life this rich but under-explored music.

Great Lakes Log Crafters Conference

Once a year, a group of handcrafted log builders meets in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan to share ideas on the craft of log building. The Great Lakes Log Crafters Association has been meeting for over 30 years, and describes itself as ‘an organization of professional log builders and others interested in the art of handcrafting log structures.’ This year the moving conference will be meeting April 12 & 13 in SLHS’s own town of Grand Rapids, MN.

The two-day gathering packs in a combination of lecture-presentations and craftsmanship demonstrations. Recent gatherings in the past, members have demonstrated cutting dovetails, scribing and cutting lock notches, media-blasting logs for surface restoration, and chainsaw carving feathers out of scraps from scarf cuts. This year’s conference includes presentations on curved paneling, building an s-curved stairway, historic log structures, and engineering for log, log blasting, and other topics.

Another exciting component to the 2019 Annual GLLCA Conference is the location and venue. The Log Crafters Association will be meeting at The Forest History Center, a site of the Minnesota Historical Society, which features a recreation 1900 logging camp, forest walking trails, and the main interpretive center where most conference of the conference activities will take place. The event is open to public attendance, and registration as a guest can be found here and inquiries can be directed to Kay at info at gllca.org.