LESLIE: Steve in North Carolina has got a log cabin that needs some help. What can we do for you?
STEVE: I’ve got a log cabin that needs a lot of help.
LESLIE: (chuckling) OK.
TOM: Alright. (Steve chuckles)
STEVE: But right now, my biggest concern is I have – you know, it’s – the logs are the pre-fab logs. They’re …
TOM: Right.
STEVE: … about six inches tall …
TOM: OK.
STEVE: … eight inches wide, round on both inside and outside.
TOM: Uh-huh.
STEVE: And I was thinking, because with the shrinkage of the logs, gaps are opening…
TOM: OK.
STEVE: … and everybody that I talk to says you have to use the wire mesh and all this other stuff and I only want to put about an inch wide since they’re only six inches tall.
TOM: Right.
STEVE: Where you can still see …
TOM: (overlapping voices) I never – when I’ve used chinking – and by the way, if everyone is wondering what chinking is, that’s that stuff that kind of looks like mortar that’s in between the logs of a log cabin.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
TOM: But with the pre-fabbed logged homes, the chinking is a synthetic and it actually stays rubbery and sort of flexible; it’s kind of like a really thick, heavy …
LESLIE: So it stretches with it.
TOM: Yeah, exactly. And it’s very sticky and it adheres well. Got to be careful when you put it on because it’s – yeah, you don’t want to be sloppy with it. But I’ve never had to put it over any type of a wire mesh. You’re going to have to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for it but typically you just trowel it in there the same way you might apply, for example, mortar and it adheres really well. It stays very flexible and it looks great.
STEVE: I’ve been asking around to the local hardware stores and they don’t know anything about a synthetic chinking …
LESLIE: Hmm.
TOM: Hmm.
STEVE: … or a rubberized chinking. There’s a Lowe’s store fairly close that I can go to. Do you think they would have it or would I have to talk to a log home manufacturer?
TOM: Chinking is not the kind of thing, Steve, that you’re going to find from a home center or a hardware store; it’s not exactly an off-the-shelf product. I imagine you’re going to have to go right to a manufacturer of log homes or perhaps find it online.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. You know, there’s a website, Steve; it’s called LogHelp.com and they actually vend several different manufacturers’ synthetic chinking. There’s a company called 1010 Chinking, Chinker’s Edge, Log-Gevity Chinking. Several of them are available in different colors, I think, based on the different manufacturers or sort of different application methods. But if you go to LogHelp.com you can find out a lot of information there.
STEVE: You guys have been very, very helpful. This is a problem I’ve had for a while.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Alright, Steve.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Well, we want you to stay warm.
STEVE: I thank you much.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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