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Chinking

Chinking for Log Homes

Log chinking, in general, is the application of a mortar like substance to the joints between the logs. In the old days, anything and everything was used to seal the log joints such as mortar, mud, straw, strips of cloth …etc. Today with the advances in the sealants and coatings industries new synthetic chinkings are available that have superior elastic, adhesive and weather resistant qualities. Today’s log cabin chinking requires a superior product, and is best done with Weatherall Companies Triple Stretch chinking.

Get the best log chinking

In 1982, Weatherall Company developed the industries “all synthetic” log home chinking material. This pure Acrylic based chinking material significantly outperformed the industries existing mortar based products. As a testament to its durability, log homes originally chinked with Weatherall chinking are still maintenance free thirty five years later.

What are the Advantages of Log Cabin Chinking with Triple Stretch?

Log home chinking is much more advanced than it used to be, and Triple Stretch chinking is evidence of how far the science has come. Aesthetically and structurally speaking, Triple Stretch chinking is much better than its competitors. Here are a few ways that Triple Stretch sets itself apart from the competition.

Adhesion 

Cement , one of the first chinking products, had poor adhesion and a tendency to crack and fall out. Triple Stretch chinking, on the other hand, has superior adhesive qualities especially when used with Weatherall Companies water based stains.
 

Tight and Durable Seal

With Triple Stretch chinking, a strong and resilient seal is made between the logs, which will protect your home from weather extremes, bugs, and other elements. The proper installation of Triple Stretch chinking on your log home ensures that you are creating this lasting seal.
 

Highly Elastic 

Logs tend to move during settling and seasonal moisture/thermal variations. These shifts can cause stress on the chink joints and because traditional and cement based chinkings aren’t designed to stretch they can fail and allow air, moisture, and insect infiltration. Triple Stretch chinking, on the other hand, is specifically engineered to move with these seasonal variations and will remain flexible as it was the day it was installed on your home.
 

Various Colors and Textures

Log homes are meant to have character. That means they should look vibrant, colorful, and well textured. Triple Stretch log home chinking gives customers the opportunity to give their home the look they want by offering a wide variety of traditional and custom mortar colors. The chinking can have the old mortar look or it can blend in with whatever color of logs you may have, and it is also designed to make sure that color doesn’t fade over time, which will only add to your home’s lasting beauty.

These products are industry-applauded and customer-preferred due to their ease of application and durability rating—only the best! View our Chinking Application Tips.

Chinking Tools

The tools you’ll need to apply the log chinking can all be found very easily. You’ll need:

  • Chinking product: this comes in 10.3oz cans, 30oz cans, and 5 gallon pails
  • Applicator: Bulking loading gun for five gallon buckets or standard caulking gun for tubes. Check out our video on how to load a chinking gun!
  • Backer rods: Backer rod is installed in the log joints and is necessary to ensure the proper adhesion and joint design.  
  • Trowel: use this to smooth out the chinking once it’s applied

Preparation

Make sure the logs are dry before attempting to apply any log home chinking. The chinking product won’t stick to wet logs. The same goes for logs that have mill glaze: if the logs are ‘shiny’ they will need to be sanded down before any chinking is applied.  It’s also important to take the weather into account. Extreme cold and heat will make chinking for your log home difficult. 
 

Application

Take a backer rod and secure it in between the joint. Then pump some chinking onto the surface, following it with a trowel to smooth the edges. Once this process is complete, the chinking product will begin the drying phase. This phase takes between 7-10 hours initially, while the curing phase will take a week at least. 
Check out our videos on chinking for round and square log homes!
 

Storage

If you are planning on keeping the chinking for use at a later date, make sure to keep in in a cool dry place and protect it from freezing.  For 5 gallon pails, place a small layer of water on top of the product, cover the product with plastic, and firmly seal the lid.
 

How is Triple Stretch Chinking Better than its competitors?

Log home owners are always looking for the best way to keep their home looking as good as when it was first built. This task becomes difficult if the chinking products don’t do the job they were designed to do. 
 
Triple Stretch chinking is a superior product to other chinking products for a variety of reasons. Listed below are some common things that can be avoided entirely with the use of Triple Stretch chinking.
 

Pests

With traditional chinking products or other chinking materials, there is always a risk of cracking along the seams. These cracks can be small but their significance is much bigger. When there are breaks along the chinking, you create small openings for wildlife to enter into your home. These could be mice, beetles, worms, termites, wood boring insects, cluster flies, etc. - all of which you probably would rather not have in your home.
 
When you use Triple Stretch chinking for your home, you don’t have to worry about any of these pests making their way into your cabin. The Triple Stretch Chinking creates a tight seal on the home upon first application and it becomes very difficult for anyone to remove. Having Triple Stretch chinking for your log home means keeping all of those small insects and animals outside where they belong.
 

Temperature

If you live in your cabin year round, you know the benefits of having a nice warm dwelling as the snow falls or a place to cool down in the summertime. With traditional log cabin chinking products however, your cabin may not be keeping as warm as you’d like it to be. Other elastic log chinking products and traditional chinking do poorly in extreme conditions and tend to pull away from the logs, creating pockets for air to flow through. These pockets are what let the warm air escape in the winter and the cool air escape in the summer. This is not only a nuisance to you and your family but also to your wallet, as these pockets caused by faulty chinking are driving up your energy bills.
 
Triple Stretch chinking for log homes is designed to cling to the logs and hold the air - warm or cool - inside the log home where it belongs. With Triple Stretch log home chinking, you don’t have to worry about the heat leaving your home or extra money leaving your wallet. The chinking is much more energy efficient because of its tighter seal, which will keep the heat and AC bills low. 
 

Elements

During a powerful storm, you hope that your log home is up to the task. After all, it was constructed using large heavy logs and steel. 
 
The elements are kept at bay after the first application of Triple Stretch log cabin chinking. Traditional log home chinking can’t handle big shifts in the logs, so cracks form and the chinking fails. These failures result in leaks and drafts around the log home, and another application of the lesser chinking material. As long as you use Triple Stretch log cabin chinking you won’t have to be concerned with a leaky home again.

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