Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Often a restoration requires the entire exist-
ing house to be rechinked inside and out.
Before rechinking this Virginia log house, all
the narrow cracks had to be widened by
removing sapwood and bark. Taking out the
punky wood is good for the health of the
house as it leaves only solid wood in place.
removed when the logs are down and sometimes it is
chipped away in the standing house.
Often old logs will have decayed sapwood, top and
bottom, where chinking has held moisture against
them. If the decay runs all the way across most of the
face, we cut away a section of the log face and apply a
new face of similar wood, then rechink. If decay is all
the way through to the inside, we may splice in a sim-
ilar log section. In that case, we set a block in under
the splice to brace it, set back so chinking covers it.
A common decay area is at a check crack, where
water has gotten in and rotted the crack. Here, we cut
out a neat rectangle as deep as is necessary to find
good wood. Then we cut a matching piece to fit, glue
it in, and set it with galvanized nails. We caulk to keep
rain out.
Rot at the log ends is also common if water has been
allowed to get into the notch. Replacing a notch is
trickier since the notch functions just as much to hold
the log in place as it does to secure the corner of the
house. If too much of the wood is rotten, we will lift
the log end out and replace a section of at least two
feet, making a new corner notch at one end and a
splice into the existing log at the other end. If the rot
can be contained in the center of the log end, then we
remove the rot, make a plug, and insert the plug into
the log. We worked on one house that required a plug
more than two feet long. The outside of the log was
solid, but it was hollow from rot. One of our carpen-
ters, who is very tall, with very long arms, was able to
reach into the log end all the way up to his armpit to
remove the punky wood. We had fun with that one.
Wherever decayed wood is cut away, use a heavy
application of high-quality wood preservative to kill
dry rot. We use a borate solution, brushed or sprayed
on at least four times. Several brands are on the mar-
ket, none of which is toxic like the older fungicides.
Here is a good place to point out that if you're
replacing or recycling a log, always use the best and
widest face out — the one with a good bottom corner,
at least — to tuck the chinking under. Inside, the log
face can be almost round, because there's no weather
to keep out.
Log floor joists are often too warped or too weak for reuse. In this
case, we replaced only the decayed ones.
