The Cabin - Part 9: Chinking and Flooring

As logs tend to change shape as they age, log buildings are chinked, which can be done with moss or cement, but usually with something that can stretch with the shifts in the wood.

We used a mix that to me felt like latex paint with some kind of grit in it.



Before you can apply it, you lay down some kind of backer. We used a tubular foam strip. This ensures the material is not touching both logs at their closest points, as this makes it more prone to ripping.


The strip was stapled in, and then we used a trowel and putty knife to apply it. There is a caulking gun available, which applies it in a nice bead. The one we borrowed did not want to participate.

The cabin was chinked in two days.

Then we laid the floor. We went with a cheaper floor, an "easy" install tongue-and-groove laminate that has the look of reclaimed barn board. This was not super easy, and I was frustrated with our initial result. Our good friend Matt came over, and we ripped it up and reapplied it in an hour! It looks great! The issue that my first row was not staying straight, and the ever-so-slight variations in the line made the tiles not want to stay clicked in. Part of my challenge was that when I pushed against the laid row with a new board, there was no solid backing because the floor abutted against the still-fresh chinking.

I still had some work ahead of me, but this was enough to set up a temporary workstation.

Location:Wiseacres, Horsefly, BC