I have to say, I was a bit intimidated about doing the chinking without Stewart here.
Actually ever since I started working on the cabin after his death, there have been many things I was intimidated to do. But the cool thing is, that as I keep the saying, "just eat that elephant one bite at a time" in my mind, I have continued to move forward through those things that have intimidated me, one step at a time, one success at a time.
As I have continued, my confidence is growing & I just keep moving forward. It has been a beautiful growing experience for me to tackle this cabin head on!
It's a good thing I like puzzles, because it was one big puzzle figuring out all the tools & materials I would need to get the chinking going. I got on the log home builders forum to read up on the details of chinking, I talked with Dan at Russell Building Supply, & I was able to blow up some pictures from the last chinking blog I did to make sure I had the right nails & to figure out the nail gun attachment Stewart rigged up. I can't believe I actually found that attachment! But, we had everything we needed to insulate, nail, & chink the interior, and once again, it was a huge success!
The chinking party was a pleasant surprise in that some really neat people I had never met showed up to help. There was an awesome family from Georgia that showed up & even brought a delicious homemade coconut cake! I feel so blessed for the new friends that have come into my life!
A warm & special thanks to all the peeps that came out on Saturday & Sunday to support me & help chink the cabin: My dad, my brothers Jackson & Taylor, Andy, Clete, Ward, David & Karen, Landon, Zack & Danielle, Jerry, Dan, Sherry, Laurel, Ray, Patrick & Kristyn, my mom, David, & Charles.
Thank you all SO much!!!!!
And here we go!! Everyone worked together to cut insulation, stuff the insulation, put nails in the logs, bend the nails back, mix mortar, & put the mortar up.
Danielle cutting insulation into 1" strips to stuff in between the logs
Below, Zack & Landon stuffing insulation
Below, David & Ward (Fellow LHBA member) each using a nail gun to shoot 3" nails into the logs to hold the insulation in place & so the mortar has something to adhere to.
Danielle & Landon stuffing insulation & nailing up the corners
My brother Taylor working that insulation & nailing the corners
Taylor & Landon using the nail gun in a really hard to reach area
Below, Clete & Andy (Fellow LHBA member) nailing nails in the corners & bending them down
Dan (Russell Building Supply) bending down those nails to prepare for the mortar
Well, we were making good time. We got all the insulation cut, stuffed & most of the nails in before we broke for lunch.
After lunch, we began making the mortar. Below, my dad going to town. He is the best mortar maker ever! The mortar is made of a mixture of sand, lime, water & portland cement, all mixed to the perfect consistency.
Danielle did a great job keeping everyone supplied with mortar. She is helping Karen & Laurel get some mortar.
Zack, doing a fantastic job chinking. Way to work that trowel!
Above, Andy (Fellow LHBA member) & Below, Sherry are chinking away!
Above, Landon chinking a corner & Below, Jerry (Fellow LHBA member) working a hard to reach area
Saturday work crew: (From Left to Right)
Zack, Danielle, Landon, Laurel, Ward, Karen, David, Andy & Jim. (Up front) Ava, Rachel, Cody & Sherry
Not pictured: Taylor, Jerry, Dan, Jackson & Clete
Guys, thank you So much for coming out!!!!!
So, at this point my brother Taylor was taking pictures of the crew. He used my camera to take pictures, then set it down. Sunday, I was looking for my camera & it was nowhere to be found. I called Taylor to see if he remembered where it was. He didn't. Of course I was really bummed, I had tons of pictures from Saturday's festivities. He called me back a bit later & said, "this is going to freak you out, but I found your camera." Taylor had driven my truck back home an hour away with the camera sitting on the back bumper the whole time!! Wow.
Well, I am super glad to have my camera back, but I didn't get to take any pictures of the crew on Sunday. But thanks to Charles, I did get some pictures.
Below, Patrick gets the ladder ready to do some chinking, & my beautiful momma chinking the closet!
Charles, doing a great job chinking! Charles wins the prize for this party. He stayed & helped me all day Sunday until 10pm that night. Thanks for your help Charles!
My mom & I chinking the closet
It took a total of 25 hours to do the interior chinking! Wow, what a job. I would say the hardest or most tedious jobs of the whole cabin building project are peeling the logs, stacking the logs, staining the logs, & chinking the logs... It's all about those beautiful logs... But when it's all said & done, it is well worth it. Oh, then there's cleaning the logs after the chinking party is over. It took about 25 hours to clean the excess mortar drips off the logs as well.... Thanks Landon for your help!!
And the finished product...
And on we go... Next we have the Gutters up, HVAC system in, framing finished, gas lines in...
Stayed tuned!
