Do all log homes need chinking? I'm freezing! (hardwood floors, how much, roof)

[SunInHair]

We're in the final process of finishing the interior of our log home. The seasonal winds right now have me freezing because the wind blows right through the house! The logs are the kind that have grooves which fit together with a strip of insulation caulk between. They are 8" D style logs. Although the logs were thoroughly dried before installation, some have obviously shrunk causing the logs to pull apart though not visually obvious. We were told by the log home company that chinking is not necessary. Advice?

[ylisa7]

I am so sorry you are having problems. I hope someone here knows the answer but I did find a link that might help.

Chinking or Caulking Your Log Home - Log Home Store article (http://www.loghomestore.com/nl-chinking.html - broken link)

Good luck. As much as I love the look of log homes this is why my DH would never have one. I wish you the best.

[mrpeatie]

I actually grew up such a log house. The smooth face of the D was interior, the bowed face exterior, the logs supposedly kiln dried and a small vertical sline notched into the log above/below with a foam type strip to each side. we lived in a very warm- and moist- area and it seemed to wreak havoc on the seal between the logs. Basically over time you are going to have to keep vigilant about sealing between the logs. I'd actually go ahead and look for something along the lines of sealant over a backer rod (this sould allow it expand contract with the logs.)

If it is too huge of an issue and you have a couple of inches in each direction, you could fir out a wall and place sheet insulation over the logs then hang wood cut to look like the log face from the firring. But that is definitely a worst case scenario. We just used the wood stove on cold nights and it all but cooked us; you'd be surprised how much house on stove with a blower can heat.

[azoria]

In my desk drawer I have a hard drive from our previous computer, full of pictures of Russia, a very very cold country. All rural houses are homemade, usually of locally cut logs.

I have included the only pic I could find in this hard drive, of a Russian log building. This house is a particularly tight construction, most such buildings are not so well made. But if you look well, you'll see horse hair chinking between the logs. (no, not the Roosky cat in the flower planter!)

Horse hair chinking is commonly found in Russian log construction both historical and contemporary. They have lots of logs and plenty of horses. Works for them!


P.S. This building is on Tolstoy's 19th century estate outside of Tula Russia, Yasnaya Polyana.

[Fat Freddy]

Run some furring strips, add fiberglass insulation, and cover that with drywall. Then you will have a real house that will keep you warm and dry.

[Bones]

SunInHair, look in my albums and you can see what I did with the outside walls in the master bedroom, and master bathroom. 3/4" tongue and grove pine boards over foam panels that were taped at the seams. Spray foam at the ceiling, floors, and windows before the foam panels were installed. Made a fantistic improvement as the woodstove is on the opposite end of house. This spring the other bedroom and office will get the same treatment on the outside walls of the old log cabin.....

[Beau&Cloe]

I live in a D style log home in Virginia. We put caulking between each log on the outside. The color matches the stain and it is not noticeable. The first winter in our house was very cold until we found the leaks. The cold air was not coming from between the logs. Check everywhere for leaks such as at the roof line, around the windows and doors,etc. We insulated the basement ceiling and now the hardwood floors are very comfortable. It took a winter season for us to find and correct the problems.

[harry chickpea]

Neighbor's log cabin has some sort of flexible chinking between the logs that was applied with a blade. Dunno a brand name, but the stuff looks good and seals well. Comments he had about it was that it sticks to everything and quick cleanup is important, and that it was VERY expensive.