simple cheap chinking ?

[SCSawyer]

Any ideas about a mixture for this guys ?

[moonhill]

More details?   Tim

[tyb525]

Old fashioned mud/clay?

[Dodgy Loner]

Lotsa factors go into determining what sort of chinking to use.  First off, how big are your gaps, and are the logs square or round?

[krusty]

wire lath and mortar for me!

[Ironwood]

Man if I needed chinking, I'd spend anything necessary to get something like Permachink (tm) that stuff isn't cheap but it rocks, no cracking, no moisture penetration. Nice

Ironwood

[Jasperfield]

I agree with Ironwood. If you're gonna scrimp, don't do it on the chinkin'.

If you're going to do something; Do it right or don't do it at all.

David Brooks (Chinkers of Tennessee 1-423-623-8408 Ofc or 1-865-322-1992 cell) chinked my house with "Log Jam" brand chinking. They're a 25+ yr family-run company that chinks houses from East Tennessee to Colorado...and Fla. to Me. That's all they do.

If you're wanting to scrimp on chinking, you've probably alrealy spent too much on good logs.

Without really good chinking material AND installation, the best logged home is nothing more than a fancy corn crib.

They can make the chinkin' look however you want, period, rustic, smooth, etc.

Jasperfield

[woody1]

I built a butt n pass cabin. Everything low budget. It's just a little get- a- way. I tried every mixture. Asked many people, got much advise. If you want cheap, I used quickcrete 80# bags of mortar mix. Just add water, mortar bag it on the lathe, let it set a while, slick it out..worked great. It's 5 year old with no problems. I sure wouldn't use it on something I spent alot of money on, but if you are looking for cheap, it works.
Woody

[zopi]

Reinforced stucco over wire?

[Sprucegum]

If I remember right it was;

1 part salt
2 parts wood ash
5 parts clay

add water to the desired consistency.

Salt is real cheap (around here)  and the rest is free.

Only problem I had was the Dang cows eating the chinking to get the salt  >:(

[PA141]

I built this cabin in 30 days--by my self, and was in a hurry for quick, cheep, easy chinking. I was living in a slum, and had given my 30 days notice to get out, and I was broke and motivated, and in a hurry.  I used pole chinking on the outside, and cut long- 6" wide strips of foam carpet pad, folded as needed and inserted them in the gaps with the rough edge out toward the poles, and the rounded folded side to the inside.

I had read where settlers used moss, and this was as close as I could get. Use what ya got.

  Sealed it up really good, and I lived in it for 3 years. The new owner eventually replaced the foam with cement mortar.  

[Don P]

I've chinked with mortar successfully, a scratch coat over wire lath and then a finish coat of white Portland, lime and white sand, well tucked under the upper log and shedding water on the lower. But after doing rot repair on cement based chinking, usually poorly detailed so it caught water, I've come to the conclusion that lime based chinking is probably a better idea. Portland tends to hold moisture where lime chinks tend to dry and preserve better. A typical mix was around equal parts of clay, sand and lime.

[clww]

That's awesome, PA141! I love self reliance.