Small Cabin

Small Cabin Forum
 - Forums - Register/Sign Up - Reply - Search - Statistics -

Small Cabin Forum / Member's Projects and Photos / my little cabin
Author Message
tillroot1
Member
# Posted: 5 Sep 2016 22:12
Reply 


Hello, new here, I have a cabin that I am prepping to move from a river bottom to my property, about 30 miles. I have the walls and roof secure and ready to move, I am wondering what type of chinking to put back in when I get it set up? right now, it has some type of mortor and wood chips mixed in. any help is appreciated, Ron Tilley

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 5 Sep 2016 22:51
Reply 


Mortar chinking doesn't seal very well because its rigid and brittle, but it's cheap. Log home builder's suppliers have special made chinking that remains flexible as the wood expands and shrinks, so they say. But it is expensive. Another poster on this site had Polish builders build a log cabin and they used wads of a certain kind of tree bark, shredded into fine strands, bunched together in little wads, and stuffed in. Supposedly the guy drove from England to Poland just to get it. I wonder what else might work for that- like straw for instance. If it retained some springiness it would maintain the seal.

toyota_mdt_tech
Member
# Posted: 6 Sep 2016 08:51
Reply 


Quoting: bldginsp
Supposedly the guy drove from England to Poland just to get it. I wonder what else might work for that- like straw for instance. If it retained some springiness it would maintain the seal.



Cedar bark works great for that, its stringy lengthwise, tough otherwise. I used it on an 8X12 log toolshed my dad and family built when I was in my late teens. We jammed it in with blunt tools, packed in super tight.

creeky
Member
# Posted: 6 Sep 2016 10:37
Reply 


I talked with a wood building restoration guy many years back. he was using spray foam between logs and mortaring over that.

I've also heard that rock wool insulation works well.

leonk
Member
# Posted: 6 Sep 2016 10:51
Reply 


dunno about tree bark, traditionally sphagnum moss was used, but it requires tight fit, so it's not the same as chinking, which can close large gaps. Moss requires somewhat skillful application and annual maintenance. Today jute and similar is used instead. I doubt it's available in NA. There're special rubber gaskets too.
I know a guy who lives in dove tailed log house (large logs) and doens't have any issues with cement chinking (30 years), but his foundation is full basement and solid.
Another fella I know used permachink or something like this on machined logs and was very happy too.

buckybuck
Member
# Posted: 6 Sep 2016 11:59
Reply 


What about using oakum for small gaps? My understanding is it's what shipbuilders have used for centuries to water-seal wooden ships. I see this available from log cabin suppliers, but it's expensive. Anybody got a recipe for making your own?

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 7 Sep 2016 09:50
Reply 


Oakum would probably work well, but it has tar in it. Wouldn't want that in my building.

Your reply
Bold Style  Italic Style  Underlined Style  Thumbnail Image Link  Large Image Link  URL Link           :) ;) :-( :confused: More smilies...

» Username  » Password 
Only registered users can post here. Please enter your login/password details before posting a message, or register here first.