rechinking and treating outside of cabin

[HockeyLogger]

Hello

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for rechinking and treating the outside of an older log cabin.

The cabin has been used as an office by my dad for about the last 10 years and he has not done any maintenance to the exterior. The overall age of the cabin is somewhere in the range of 40 years old. The chinking looks like a shiny black rubber type material, the inside of the cabin is in excellent condition but the outside has faded considerably and the chinking in numerous places has started to crack and fall off the building.

The building is one story and at most a 20 x 20 so I don't think it will be a huge undertaking but I'm just wondering where to start. Also would you suggest redoing the chinking first before refinishing the outside?

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly apprectiated. I will try to get some pictures tomorrow to help people get a visual of what I am talking about.

Thank You

[Shark]

Depending on the type of chinking, it may absorb/discolor with new stain when you refinish. So I would guess that you'd want to strip/re-stain first, then re-chink after.

[HockeyLogger]

Here are some pictures of the building. As you can see the one picture is from the inside where the logs aren't faded and the chinking is in good condition. The others are from the outside.

http://s1133.photobucket.com/albums/m590/hockeylogger/

[HockeyLogger]

Hopefully these pictures help with any suggestions. Any idea what kind of chinking that is?

Thanks for your help and hopefully I will see some of you at a class in the future.

[rocklock]

1. The overhangs on this building are minimal at best. I am unsure what can be done about this. I suggest that overhangs should be 4 feet... yours look like their about 24 inches or less...
2. It looks like there is water infiltration or water stains inside the building. If that is true, then there are major problems and a little chinking will not do much.
3. There are synthetic chinking that comes in tubes that can be applied. Log Jam and Perma-Chink are two examples of this synthetic chinking. There are others. IMHO, they are all about the same.
4. The outside is badly oxidized and grayed. If it were mine, I would investigate corn cob blasting, to clean the outside and parts of the inside that has stains. Then apply a stain - finish. It will take several coats - possibly three.
Note, if there are water leaks to the inside, rechinking and putting an outside finish MAY not solve the problem... Crack that are pointed up are rain catcher and channel the water to the core of the log - and then possibly inside. Chinking the cracks has been done in the past.
5. There seems to be a problem with the bottom logs. From what I can see the snow and water is affecting these logs. I, IMHO recommend that logs be clear of rain and snow so that it does not sit on the log and cause rot.

So, I wish you luck.

[HockeyLogger]

Thanks for the suggestions rocklock. You are right whoever built this wasn't thinking about protecting the logs, and to add to it there are no gutters so a lot of water just runs right down on to the face board and then the logs. I haven't looked real close but I am guessing that the facing will need to be replaced fairly soon because of water damage. Right now I am just looking into the best ways to preserve the structure and not let it get any worse.

For the bottom would you suggest a skirting of some sort or what else could I do to protect the logs. Thanks again.

[rocklock]

I might look into the process of jacking this little puppy up a foot or so... I general, you need to keep the water and snow away from the logs. They can get wet but they need to dry out ASAP. You need to insure that the roof sheds the water away from the structure... This building may be more costly to repairs and preserve than you want to pay... What then? I would think about that ESPECIALLY if the water is coming inside.

So, I wish you luck.