Malamute
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2011 11:13pm - Edited by: Malamute
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I'm sure there's other folks that know about log stuff.
Dan, it works ok for some things, but I don't think it will compensate for shrinkage. Once it sets, it's pretty rigid. If it sticks well, you may get some movement out of it.
I'm not quite as much a fan of it as I was. I worked on a place this summer, it had all the door and window jambs foamed. The house leaked air like nothing I'd ever seen! There were holes in the foam, some pin holes, some larger, and the window jambs leaked air like crazy when the wind blew. We ended up digging it all out and packing the jambs with fiberglass insulation. I chinked over some of the worst ones with Log Jam afterwards to insure a good seal. The holes in the foam were gaps from being intalled, it simply didnt comletely expand to close all the tiny gaps along the edges. Keep in mind they make minimal expanding foam for a reason, the maximum expanding stuff can expand enough to warp the door and wondow jambs. Could be the people that put the stuff in just werent very good with it, but almost every window and door in the place leaked air around the edges of the foam.
I think the spray in foam is ok for many uses, and probably OK for most windows, but if you have true wind, like we do along the Front Range, packing a layer of fiberglass first may be a good idea.
Keep in mind that the spray foam isnt good for direct exposure to sun, it degrades in time. Mice also don't seem detered by it in my experience. I've had them chew thru it several times.
You may not be able to lay hands on it or anything similar, but I've had pretty good results with Log Jam for chinking, caulking window bucks, setting roof jacks on metal roofs. It's used with a foam backer rod for log joints or large cracks in logs. It works ok without the backer rod, but is designed to be used with it, and I think works my=uch better on log joints when used with backer rod. The backer rod is a bond breaker that allows it to expand and contract with changes in weather and the wood shrinkage. The backer rod also reduces the volume of chinking, backer rod is cheaper than chink.
The old style "high tech" chinking was a mixture of 1 part portland cement (not concrete, just the component part, portland cement itself), 2 parts gypsum plaster, and 3 parts coarse sawdust. Chain saw sawdust is about right. I used to get trash bags full of it at the sawmill for free. I've used it on a couple projects. It's usually used with fiberglass packed into the joint first, nails driven in and bent inward to help hold the chink to both top and bottom logs of the joint, and trowelled in. It's pretty stable, not as crumbly as straight mortar chinking. I've removed both and theres a huge difference in how easy they are to remove. The mortar mix, pretty simple to remove, the portland/plaster/sawdust mix, is quite tenatious. It develops hairline cracks, but they don't sem to cause problems. Once in a while you get some separation, but if that spot leaks air or rain, you can caulk it. I think most of my joints were about 1 1/2"-2" wide when using that type chink. Need to be sure you get your nails far enough back in the joint so they don't cause trouble when chinking. A nail gun would be heaven when doing that chore. 8's are about right I think.
Glad your bucks are looking better now.
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Malamute
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# Posted: 21 Sep 2011 10:16am
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I saw your pics after posting here, your walls look good! Whatever the stuff is they use there sounds like it works fine. There really isnt just one answer for many log bulding questions. I think that's one thing that hangs many people up about log work, they think there's one "right" way to do it that they have to learn, but there isnt. Log building is quite varied in technique and styles, and in the ways of sealing, setting windows and doors, corners, foundations, floors etc. Many ways work well.
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