Chinking is something that every log home needs. The only time you won’t need chinking is if you are using log siding. Log siding does not need chinking. Since chinking is a necessity for a true log home, you may be looking at it and wondering if you can paint it. Painting your log home chinking is a great way to add to the aesthetic of your log home.
Painting your log home chinking.
Painting your log home chinking is absolutely possible. Since chinking is made to stretch and move with the log home, it will need a special paint. You can buy Chink Paint for your log home chinking and add color in-between your logs.
Perma-chink makes a great chink paint. Here are the colors available:
How to paint your chinking
Painting your chinking is very simple. You will simply need a brush and some water with a rag. First make sure that you clean your chinking. Here is our guide on cleaning chinking. If your chinking needs to be repaired, then you must make sure to do that as well. Here is our guide on repairing your chinking. Once your chinking is repaired and cleaned. You can simply choose a nice day with dry moderate weather and paint your chinking. Use a wet rag to clean any chinking that gets on your logs before it dries. That is it! Now you added color to that ugly chinking!
Can you stain your log chinking?
Typically people always stain before they add chinking. Stain is different from paint. Stain works by penetrating the wood and changing the shade. Chinking will not absorb stain like the wood will. The color will not be the same and it will not be a smooth finish on your chinking. We do not recommend staining your chinking. If you are staining your log home and it has chinking, you can tape your chinking or use mineral spirits to clean stain spots off your chinking. It is recommended to be careful when staining with chinking on. The stain should not hurt the chinking, but it will most likely hurt the aesthetic.
If you want color on your chinking, it is recommended to go with chink paint. Make sure to always check with the chinking manufacturer before doing anything to it. Some chinking products might not be compatible. If you have mortar chinking… it could be a different story. Check out our Guide to homemade chinking!
