With utility costs soaring, it is very important to maintain tight seals in between logs and around windows and doors.  Log homes are the toughest structures to keep sealed properly.  This is just the nature of the beast.  Logs move.  Logs shrink as the moisture leaves them and they crack or check.  Logs lose size and dimension both longitudinally and lattitudinally.  They are constantly moving and changing.  They breathe.  The logs take on moisture and then release it again.  That is why it is so important that the stain applied to them breathes.  Most sealants, caulk and chinking, will not tolerate this amount of movement by the logs. 

We use Sashco sealants at Top-Coat.  We feel from experience that they are the best available.  They have excellent adhesion and flexibility, along with limited lifetime manufacturer’s warranties.  We have not only field tested these products for year’s and feel them to be the best, but have visited Sashco’s facilities in Colorado, and have been impressed with their dedication to continual improvements and testing. 

Here again is an area where wood preparation is essential to the success of a product.  No caulk or chinking, no matter how good, will work properly if the surface isn’t sound, meaning clean and dry, without damaged wood cells.  A few stains/sealers, especially those high in wax content or non-drying oils, may interfere with caulk/chinking adhesion.  This is a case where no caulk or chinking will adhere properly. 

Caulk and chinking must be maintained on a regular basis.  Since logs are always moving, changing, checks or cracks are opening up, and these need to be caulked and sealed promptly or they are an avenue for water and insects right to the middle of the log.  Crowns, which are the protruding corners on many popular styles of log homes, are an especially vulnerable area, and extra attention in needed in these areas.

Chinking is a way to not only seal in between logs, but also change the whole look of a log home.  There are different colors available, and a 1” to 3” band of chinking applied between logs can change the look of a log home, and add tremendous aesthetic beauty.

We at Top-Coat believe in the necessity of using a bond-breaker, namely a closed cell backer rod when we caulk and chink.  Proper depth and width of the caulk or chinking is also an absolute necessity and essential to the sealants flexing and stretching and working properly without failure!