What is chinking?
The word “chink” originally meant “gap” or “crevice” (in the Old English). The most general definition of the word “chinking” now means any material that seals a gap or crevice. But, more specific to the log home industry, the term “chinking” has come to mean the elastomeric, textured sealants that are now used to seal the joints between separate logs, or to seal other types of openings in log wall surfaces, such as checks. Sashco makes one such product, Log Jam (which was the first highly elastic and UL fire rated textured log home chinking product produced in the world). [Note: Prior to about 1980, chinking had traditionally been a system that included the installation of metal mesh or lath to the region between two logs, with Portland cement mortar being installed afterward – using the mesh or lath as the needed reinforcement. As you can imagine, Portland cement mortar has virtually no elastic characteristics at all, and when the logs would inevitably move, in response to moisture c
