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Thread: How smooth do you like your chinking?

  1. #1

    How smooth do you like your chinking?

    Hey all,

    Some of you may remember a year ago I bought a log home, and I am slowly renovating. Anyways, the main reason for this post is chinking - well in my case, caulking the gaps that have appeared that the previous owner did not attend to.

    How smooth do you like it?? I have tried really hard to get it fairly smooth, but it's a tough job! LOL! See below. Some of it is still wet, so it will dry darker than what you see.

    ALSO - The guy who built the place decided to paint the outside (God knows why) so I am stripping it back too.

    Some pics for you!

    https://imgur.com/XyMpUiS

    https://imgur.com/OR6xGk5

    https://imgur.com/ViGS3rA

    https://imgur.com/wraEPOh

  2. #2
    LHBA Member loghousenut's Avatar
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    Glad to see you back.

    Of course, you already know that it doesn't matter how smooth we like OUR chinking. Every single one of our places turns out different.

    My house is rustic. Lots of unsanded knots, and the Chinking looks like it was put on with real hand tools. Anybody who knows me thinks my house reminds them of Ron Smith (me). I've seen Chinking so smooth, you'd think it was applied using laser technology and I've seen some that had hand prints in it. It's all good.

    In the end, I think you are the only one who will notice and you will like it no matter how it turns out. Everyone else will think it looks however it looks because that is how it is supposed to look.

    It is a fine looking place. I'm glad you are losing the paint. Make it yours.

    Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk
    Every time I have strayed from the teachings of Skip Ellsworth it has cost me money.

    I love the mask mandate. I hardly ever have to bruh my teeth anymore.

  3. #3
    Thanks man! Yep! I am certainly doing that! Big job, but I am enjoying the challenge.

    Cheers
    J

  4. #4
    LHBA Member loghousenut's Avatar
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    If you like doing it, just go at it. When it gets to be a chore, start looking for a way out. In the end, a log house is just a house.

    When I read that last sentence, I want to argue with it. It is total truth, but I spent the last 10 years building the house I will die in. I know the connection.

    Try to have fun with it.

    Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk
    Every time I have strayed from the teachings of Skip Ellsworth it has cost me money.

    I love the mask mandate. I hardly ever have to bruh my teeth anymore.

  5. #5
    LHBA Member mudflap's Avatar
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    I had a dream last night about chinking - I was out there smoothing it out with some buffing thingy attached to my grinder. It was so smooth! Obviously, I then woke up.
    --
    "cutting trees is more important than thinking about cutting trees or planning to cut trees." ~ F. David Stanley

    videos: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/mudflap/
    polished blog: https://loghomejourney.wordpress.com
    not-so-polished-but-updated-frequently blog: https://mudbox.freedombox.rocks/ikiw...fromtheMudbox/
    diaspora: https://diaspora.psyco.fr/people/613...39001e67d879df

  6. #6
    Has anyone ever tried the toothpaste / then thick latex mortar mix after the initial chinking is done? And if so, do you need to use concrete bonding adhesive so it stays put? Can the thick latex finish coat be made without sand?

  7. #7
    LHBA Member loghousenut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mudflap View Post
    I had a dream last night about chinking - I was out there smoothing it out with some buffing thingy attached to my grinder. It was so smooth! Obviously, I then woke up.
    I saw an LHBA home up on Washington, years and years ago that had been chinked with spray foam. Then they went at it with a wire brush on an electric drill to smooth it out. Then they painted it.

    Looked really nice but he said all those little electrostatic chunks of foam dust were the most devilish enemy he had ever come across.

    Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk
    Every time I have strayed from the teachings of Skip Ellsworth it has cost me money.

    I love the mask mandate. I hardly ever have to bruh my teeth anymore.

  8. #8
    LHBA Member mudflap's Avatar
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    that's just too much work.

    Putting the insulation in the gaps is okay. But that's about it. I don't like nailing, don't like installing the lath for the "too big for nails" gaps. I really hate mixing up a batch of mortar - trying to get it right, cleaning up the mixer, then dragging that big heavy 5 gallon bucket up there to apply the stuff.

    But I really like when it's all done and I do that one last wipe with the sponge and it looks clean and neat with sharp crisp lines. that's what makes it all worth it.
    --
    "cutting trees is more important than thinking about cutting trees or planning to cut trees." ~ F. David Stanley

    videos: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/mudflap/
    polished blog: https://loghomejourney.wordpress.com
    not-so-polished-but-updated-frequently blog: https://mudbox.freedombox.rocks/ikiw...fromtheMudbox/
    diaspora: https://diaspora.psyco.fr/people/613...39001e67d879df

  9. #9
    LHBA Member loghousenut's Avatar
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    I loved nailing. Did most of it by hand with my favorite old wooden handled claw hammer. The key was grinding a dish into the action end of the hammer.

    I had to use a palm nailer for some of the nasty spots, but I really got all "Zen" about the hammer.

    Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk
    Every time I have strayed from the teachings of Skip Ellsworth it has cost me money.

    I love the mask mandate. I hardly ever have to bruh my teeth anymore.

  10. #10
    LHBA Member rckclmbr428's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by danthepianoman View Post
    Has anyone ever tried the toothpaste / then thick latex mortar mix after the initial chinking is done? And if so, do you need to use concrete bonding adhesive so it stays put? Can the thick latex finish coat be made without sand?
    I've never seen that turn out well, it looks good for a short while, then it starts flaking off, no matter how much you add. If your seriously obsessed about perfect chinking, mortar chunk everything you can, wait for the logs to stop shrinking, then use synthetic chinking over all of it. But by that time you'll be used to the mortar and not care anymore.
    www.WileyLogHomes.com
    "Hand Crafted Traditions"

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