Prepping for more chinking 3/18/2023
With the hardest top rows of logs over the stairs completely chinked, I could turn my attention to finishing the lower logs. I had to break up this wall into two sections - upper and lower - because I ran out of polycryllic. You don't have to put a finish on the logs, but everyone wishes they had after they live there for a few years. I guess dust is the big complaint - rough logs love to collect it. So rather than deal with that headache later, we decided to just go ahead and poly the logs now. Some folks like them extra shiny, so they put a high-gloss poly on them. We did a test spot in the closet and found out we don't like our logs to glare at us in the spotlight, so we went with a Matte finish, which is hard to get in gallon pails, so I had to order it online and wait.
I received the poly this week and quickly sanded and put a couple coats of the stuff on the bottom logs.
After that, I had to install nails and tidy up the insulation. Once the nails are in place and the insulation is pushed back firmly into all gaps, I can go back and look at the large gaps - more than 4" - and install metal lath to give the chink extra support.
How I do the lath is:
- place nails and insulation in all gaps. For gaps smaller than 4", I go back with a hammer and bend all the nails until they are vertical.
- For gaps larger than 4", I go back and bend every other nail back into the gap.
- cut a long strip of lath a bit larger than I think I need. Then place the strip of lath in between the forward facing and bent nails.
- trim the lath to fit nearly vertically in the gap using an angle grinder. Don't let the top of the lath bend towards you - harder to chink that way.
- push the forward facing nails back into the gap to hold the lath in place.