Caulking baths: technology and selection of materials. What is the best way to caulk a bathhouse made of timber and how to do it correctly How to properly caulk an old bathhouse

High-quality caulking is one of the most important guarantees of its reliable thermal insulation. Neglecting this process is highly discouraged, because what is at stake is the comfort and healthy microclimate of the steam room. But how to properly caulk a log house in order to avoid even the possibility of the formation of voids, which can negate all the thermal properties of the structure? We will look into this in detail further: we will learn the features of materials for protecting a bathhouse - jute, tow and moss, we will get acquainted with the rules and technologies of caulking, and also watch a video of direct work with a log house.

Materials for caulking

Traditional materials for caulking timber baths are moss, tow and jute. Let us outline the main features of each of them.

Moss. Environmentally friendly raw materials with high antiseptic qualities. Advantages: minimal thermal conductivity, high resistance to temperature changes, low cost. Disadvantages: the need for lengthy preparation for work. Purchased moss must be moistened and then dried before installation. If you collect the material yourself, you need to carefully sort it out to remove debris and soil, and also dry it.

Advice. There is no need to completely dry the moss, otherwise it will become brittle and completely unsuitable for caulking.

Tow. Material with a base of soft but durable flax fibers. Advantages: low thermal conductivity, minimal tendency to electrify, high absorbency, quick drying. Disadvantages: complexity of installation and unaesthetic seams remaining after caulking.
Jute. Thermal insulation material made of jute wood. Advantages: high strength, minimal hygroscopicity, inertness to rot, resistance to moisture, ease of installation. Disadvantages: rapid caking of the material and short service life.

Materials for caulking

General caulking rules

The main features of caulking baths made of timber:

Caulking must be done twice: the first - either directly during the process of laying the timber, or immediately after assembling the frame of the building, the second - after the final shrinkage of the log house, that is, a year or two later.

Advice. If you carry out caulking after the construction of the bathhouse is completed, do it before exterior finishing object, since the sealing material will raise the frame by 5-7 cm.

Insulation must be laid on each row of timber.
Thermal insulation raw materials should protrude 5 cm beyond the boundaries of the log grooves on both sides of the log house.
Caulking must be done both from the outside and from the inside bath walls.
The log house must be processed in a clear sequence: first, close the external voids around the perimeter bottom trim, then perform similar actions on the inside of the building; then go outside again and process the second crown of the frame - repeat the procedure from the inside. Using the same scheme, step by step, protect the entire internal and external surfaces of the walls.

Caulking process

Caulking technologies

There are two ways to caulk a log house – “stretch” and “set”.

The stretching technology is appropriate if the voids between the beams are very narrow - almost invisible. The material is laid as follows:

form strands of insulation;
lay the resulting strands across the fibers into the voids of the log house, pushing them with a wooden spatula;
Tuck the edges of the material (about 5 cm) and use caulking to hammer them into the cracks.

If the voids between the rows of timber are deep and wide, it is advisable to use the “in-set” caulking technology:

form long strands of at least 15 mm in thickness from the heat-insulating material and wind them into a continuous ball;
Gradually unwinding the ball, fill the voids of the log house with material, compacting it with caulk;
To get aesthetic seams, carefully go over the material with a road worker.

Advice. Where the cracks are different sizes, gain the thickness of the filler by turning the strands or simply twisting them into loops. In this case, first close the upper part of the voids, and then the lower.

As you can see, caulking a bathhouse is a painstaking process, the success of which depends on several factors: the quality of the material, the technology of its installation and the sequence of work. To cope with the task and provide a steam room good thermal insulation, carefully consider each of the indicated nuances and be patient, because caulking cannot be rushed.

How to caulk a house made of timber: video

How to caulk a bathhouse: photo

Nowadays the fashion for building bathhouses and residential buildings from natural wood has been revived. Log houses have a respectable appearance, are warm and environmentally friendly, which is very much appreciated modern people. But even such reliable and energy-saving buildings should be additionally insulated in order to feel truly comfortable in them in any weather.

Caulking - what kind of operation?

Since ancient times in Rus', most buildings were built from logs. Such buildings have always been called log houses. IN last years interest in them has increased significantly, due to their special performance properties wooden houses and baths. The construction of log houses is offered by many companies these days. And experienced home craftsmen even build cozy homes and hot steam rooms from logs with their own hands. In this article we will not describe the technology for constructing environmentally friendly buildings, but will talk about how to make them warmer. We will talk about the rules of caulking wooden structures. Without this operation, we will not be able to arrange a truly cozy sauna or residential building.

First, let's figure out why you need to caulk a log house? Everything is simple here. During installation, gaps and voids remain between the logs from which this or that structure is built. It is clear that they cannot be left. After all, through such small, at first glance, gaps, precious heat will escape from the room. Instead of a comfortable building, we will get a bathhouse or a house blown by all the winds. Caulking allows you to solve this problem. It is understood as the procedure for carefully sealing all the cracks between logs using special tools and materials. All their varieties will be described below.

Tools for insulating log cabins - unusual, but easy to use

You can do caulking of any log house yourself. To do this, you will need to study the technology of the operation and stock up on special tools:

1. A flat spatula made of hard wood or metal. We need to purchase a tool with a blade about 5.5 mm thick and 10 cm wide. This blade, called a flat caulk, is the main device for insulating log buildings.
2. A tool, called a road builder by specialists, triangular in shape with a blade 8–15 mm thick and at least 17 cm wide, along which a special groove is made. This caulk is needed to form smooth rollers from the strands of the sealing material used.
3. The so-called curved caulk - a flat chisel. The thickness of its working part is 5 mm, width is about 5.5 cm. The chisel makes it possible to seal seams on rounded parts and in the corners of a log structure.
4. With a wooden hammer (mallet). With its help, you can easily fill the seal without worrying about it deforming or collapsing. It is also possible to work with ordinary hammers.

In addition, you need to buy two split caulks - narrow and wide. The width of such devices, which visually resemble a wedge, should be approximately 3.5 cm. Breaking tools are necessary to widen narrow cracks. After using them, it is much easier to place the insulating material into gaps and voids.

The working parts of all these tools must be as smooth as possible, and the ends must not be sharp.

A rough surface will not allow the planned work to be completed efficiently, since the insulation fibers will cling to the caulk and be pulled out of the gaps. And too sharp blades will cut the material used for thermal insulation of the log house.

Let us add that there is no need to be afraid of unfamiliar names. Every self-taught craftsman can use the caulking tool.

Materials for caulking – an assortment for every taste

Thermal insulation of log houses is carried out using different insulation materials (by the way, they are usually called inter-crown insulation), both traditional and more modern. Most famous material for caulking - moss. It can be white and red. Our ancestors used it when constructing buildings from logs. Moss is an environmentally friendly natural material. It has:

low thermal conductivity;
antimicrobial and antiseptic properties;
resistance to temperature changes (this is especially important if we are insulating a bathhouse);
durability.

It is almost impossible to purchase moss in construction stores. Therefore, if you plan to use it, you will have to take care of collecting and proper preparation this material. Here you need to know the following. It is advisable to collect moss in November. At this time, there are practically no insects and snails in it. Collected material We carefully sort through, throw away rotten particles, remove debris and lumps of soil. After this, dry the moss. Don't overdo it. Overdried moss cannot be used; it becomes too brittle. It is almost impossible to push it into the cracks between the crowns and place it tightly there.

An alternative to moss is tow. It is made from flax fibers. Such material can be tape (roll) or bale. Experts recommend using the first type of tow. Insulation in the form of tape is easier to push into the seams. And the heat-protective properties of rolled products are higher. Bale tow is cheaper. But it is characterized by hard and short fibers. Working with such material is very inconvenient. The key advantages of tow are that it does not electrify, low thermal conductivity, affordable price, and antibacterial properties. Disadvantages of the material - the insulated seam has an unaesthetic appearance, the installation process is complex and labor-intensive. For these reasons, home craftsmen rarely use tow.

About 10–15 years ago, the insulation of log houses was often done with natural felt. It is environmentally friendly, easy to use, protects the building from street noise and foreign odors, and has increased vapor permeability. But, unfortunately, this material also has two serious disadvantages. Firstly, moths love it very much. She literally chews out the insulation. Secondly, felt is susceptible to rotting.

Jute does not have these disadvantages - it is pliable, soft material in the form of tapes and ropes different thicknesses. It can be matched to any seam. Jute, according to experts, creates an optimal microclimate in the log house. And most importantly, it is quite simple to install it in the cracks between the logs.

If the log house was built by professionals from ordinary logs or from rounded logs, has a semicircular groove and gaps of small thickness, it can be insulated using sealant. This is the most modern and simplest method of thermal insulation of wooden buildings. The sealant cannot be used in the presence of large gaps and in cases where the grooves of the structure have the shape of a triangle. In such situations, it will be of no use.

We will protect the wooden building from cold and winds ourselves

Caulking of a bathhouse or a residential building made of logs is carried out twice. The first time insulation is carried out directly during the construction of the log house. We need to lay the selected material after installing each crown. If we use insulation in the form of tape, the operation takes place with minimal costs time. We roll out the insulation along the crown and fix it with a construction stapler (staples). If it is necessary to lay additional tape, we mount it on the previous one with a 5-centimeter overlap. Cover installed material the next crown and repeat the procedure.

If you use moss, you will have to tinker a little longer. We take a bunch of dried material (we moisten it if necessary), lay it across the log. The fibers should hang 5-6 cm on each side of the log. Then we lay the second bundle close to the first. The moss layer is quite impressive. The tree should not be visible through it. The thicker the layer, the better the insulation.

The second part of caulking is carried out after installing all the crowns of the building and installing the roof on it. Repeated thermal insulation is necessary for any structure, be it a residential building or a bathhouse. The wall insulation scheme looks like this:

1. Take a bunch of tow (moss, felt), apply it to the seam between the logs, and use a caulking blade to press the fibers into the gap. We begin work from the end of the building from the bottom row.
2. Carefully twist the protruding ends of the material. We will get a roller 8–10 cm in length. It should be applied to the gap and pushed back between the logs using caulk, leaving only a small tip.
3. We weave the next bundle of material into the free end and continue to insulate the frame. The roller must not be interrupted. It must remain intact along the entire length of the gap.

It will take a lot of time to complete such a labor-intensive operation. But we will get a well-sealed building. And you can reduce labor costs by using tape materials rather than tow or moss. Installing them is much faster and easier. We simply cut off a piece of tape to the required length and begin hammering it into the seams. After insulating the walls, we begin to insulate the corners of the log house. This operation is also easier to perform with tapes. They are pushed into the gaps with crooked caulk.

Caulking with sealant can be done after complete shrinkage of the structure. The procedure for performing such work is given below:

1. We thoroughly clean the seams between the crowns from debris and dust, wipe them with a dry rag.
2. We treat all joints with a primer (water-based or rubber-based primer) using a sprayer or a regular brush.
3. Wait for the soil to dry.
4. We insert a tourniquet made of polyethylene (foam) into the gaps. We select products that match the width of the seams.
5. Apply sealant.

To give the log house an elegant look, we treat the insulated joints with tinted or colorless varnish.

Built from timber, laid, the roof is covered, and the windows are installed - it’s time to insulate the log house. The cracks can be caulked traditionally - with moss, or with modern material - jute or tow. How to do it correctly and what to prefer – read the article and watch the video.

How to choose the right material for insulation. Which is better

It is almost impossible to answer unequivocally what is the correct way to caulk a wooden bathhouse. Each material has pros and cons, so you need to familiarize yourself with their characteristics, and only then make a final decision.

Moss. You can buy it at a hardware store or collect it yourself in the forest. Our grandfathers practiced insulation with its help, and you can certainly trust their experience. True, now this material is far from a favorite, because there are new ones that are more convenient to use. Nevertheless, the advantages of moss include:

environmental friendliness;
medicinal properties;
efficiency;
rot resistance;
resistance to temperature changes.

Among the minuses it is necessary to highlight:

exposure to moisture;
fragility;
high fire hazard;
brittleness when drying;
the complexity of the insulation process.

Tow. It comes from hemp, jute or flax, and is sold in rolls and square blocks. The first option is more convenient, because you need to pull out individual strips from the blocks, twist them and place them in the gap. Among the advantages of the material:

naturalness;
low cost.

Perhaps this is where the apparent advantages of tow end. Minuses:

Difficulty to use. If over time you decide to remove the tow from the seams, you will suffer;
attractive to mice and moths.

Advice. Tow is a kind of alternative to moss, which many experts advise to give preference to if you are choosing only between these two options.

Felt. It can be natural or with the addition of artificial fibers. The first is preferable because it is not as fire hazardous (it burns worse). Advantages of felt:

environmental friendliness;
ease of use.

susceptibility to moisture and rotting;
high price;
high risk of moths. In addition, felt often becomes the target of attacks by mice and birds, who pick it out of the seams.

Flax batting and flax fiber. Made from flax waste. Batting is a material with the addition of artificial fibers. It is more convenient to install because it comes in the form of strips. Flax fiber is similar to tow, so working with it requires patience. The materials do not absorb moisture and are resistant to rotting. You can distinguish one from the other by color: natural flax fiber is darker than flax wool.

Jute. This is one of the most popular options among modern owners who build and then insulate a bathhouse with their own hands. It is made from wood from the linden family. Characteristics – a sight for sore eyes:

high strength;
resistance to moisture and rot;
good thermal insulation;
environmental friendliness;
ease of use - sold in the form of tapes rolled into rolls.

Among the disadvantages, it is worth noting that jute can stick together under conditions of excessive pressure loads. True, you can try to avoid this if you choose insulation with maximum density.

Attention! Jute and jute felt are not the same thing at all. The second material has the same disadvantages as felt made from any other fibers.

Subtleties of the caulking process

The advantages of a caulked bathhouse are obvious: it requires less fuel, and it takes less time to heat up the premises. Therefore, despite the fact that the work is painstaking and time-consuming, it is better not to neglect it.

Caulking baths: video

Materials for caulking baths: photo

To get rid of the gaps between the crowns and close the cracks formed during the shrinkage of the log house, apply caulk: this is the only way to retain heat inside the log house. For work you can use various materials, but the technology is the same. How to caulk a log house correctly? What's best to use for this?

What is the best way to caulk a log house? The work can be done using both natural and artificial materials. The latter are much more convenient to use, and the process takes very little time, but they have several significant disadvantages.

Natural

These include moss, tow, jute, flax wool, hemp and others.

Moss

Caulking a log house with moss has been done for a long time, and even with the advent of modern materials they did not refuse him. This explains his unique properties: it not only retains heat well, tolerates sudden temperature changes, removes excess moisture without rotting, but also has antimicrobial and even medicinal properties.

Tow

The technology using tow is considered one of the most complex. As the log house dries out, the material will become damp, which is why it will begin to rot over time. Therefore, after drying the house or bathhouse old tow cleaned and then caulked the log house again.

Jute

Moisture-resistant, environmentally friendly and durable material that retains heat well. Due to its ability to absorb moisture, it has a fairly short service life (about 3 years). Jute that has become unusable is not easy to remove from the cracks between the crowns, so it is rarely used.

There are several types of material:

Jute tow. When producing this type of insulation, the fibers are combed to give them the desired direction. The tow obtained in this way retains all the properties of jute, however ready material not very convenient for work: rigid, and at the same time not too dense. The process of caulking when using the material becomes more complicated - the work has to be carried out in several stages (during the initial laying, the required degree of density cannot be achieved).
Flax-jute. A mixed material consisting of equal amounts of flax and jute fibers. It is popular among builders, but needs protection from insects: before use it is treated with anti-moth and anti-rot agents.
Jute felt. The material, 90% jute and the remaining 10% flax fiber, has the density necessary for work, but at the same time remains flexible. The ease of use of felt makes it optimal choice. When purchasing a material, you should choose one whose fibers are longer than 2 cm - it is more elastic and flexible. The only drawback is that it can be damaged by moths, so before laying the felt, it is treated with a special protective impregnation.

Lnovatin

Insect repellent material is processed chemicals, therefore it cannot be called environmentally friendly. The service life of the insulation is up to 3 years; it is attached to the frame using construction stapler.

Synthetic

The use of ready-made compounds - sealants - will cost significantly more than if you caulk a log house with tow. However, they are much easier to work with. Usually, in order to reduce the consumption of a synthetic product, it is used together with a natural one (for example, a cord). First, the cord is sealed into the gap, and sealant is applied on top, leveling the layer with a scalpel spatula.

Among the disadvantages of sealants:

Row synthetic products is destroyed under the influence of sunlight - over time it begins to crumble and falls out. To protect the substance from damage, strips are installed on the seams, which protect the sealant from ultraviolet radiation.
Some compositions, after drying, harden into a dense solid mass, due to which the wood, which contracts and expands depending on humidity and air temperature, begins to collapse. It is recommended to use only flexible sealants.

Methods for caulking the walls of a house or bathhouse

Caulking and insulation of a log house can be done using two methods:

Into the set. Suitable for wide crevices. For work, use jute, tow or hemp. The selected material is divided into strands and wound into a ball.
Stretch. Wherein thermal insulation material divided into strips and hammered into the cracks.

General rules

The initial caulking of a timber house is carried out approximately 6 months after assembly. During this period, most of the moisture contained in the timber will disappear, cracks will appear on the wood, and cracks will appear in the structure itself.

The next time the work will need to be carried out another year. By this point, the structure will have completely settled, and it will be necessary to eliminate the cracks and crevices that have arisen over the past months.

If everything is done correctly, the third time will be needed only after 5 years. However, if technology is not followed, the need to eliminate cracks may arise annually. To ensure that the caulking of a timber house is done correctly, it is worth watching a video with advice from experienced craftsmen.

Work starts from the bottom. Sequentially caulk the lower crown around the entire perimeter from the outside, then inside the log house. After that, they move on to the next one, acting in the same way.
Usually the most large cracks form at corners, so caulk in these places should be especially careful.
First, the material is fixed in the crack over an area of about 1 m, then the hanging parts are folded in and tucked inside. Using a mallet, the insulation is firmly hammered into the gap until the material begins to spring back. When everything is done, move on to the next section.

Caulk with moss

To work you will need:

pre-dried moss;
water;
soap;
vegetable oil.

Work order:

Add 200 g of soap and 0.5 liters of oil to a bucket of water. Mix thoroughly.
Place dry moss in the prepared liquid. Wet fibers will become elastic.
Take a strand of material, twist it into a roller, and insert it into the slot. They compact well.
Using a spatula and mallet, firmly hammer the insulation into the gap.

For the initial caulking of a log house using moss, it is recommended to use the “stretch” method, all subsequent ones – the “set” method.

Using tow

Over time, insects may infest this type of insulation, and in order to protect it, the tow should be treated with a disinfectant.

You need to prepare:

tow;
formalin (it will act as an antiseptic);
water.

Caulking a house made of profiled timber using tow takes place in 4 stages:

Formalin is diluted with water to obtain a disinfectant solution.
All the prepared tow is placed in it and left for half an hour.
Having taken out and squeezed out the material, they drive in the tow, divided into strips, using the “stretch” method. The insulation is compacted using a spatula and a mallet to achieve maximum packing density.

Caulk with jute

This material is laid using the “set” method.

Depending on what type of material is chosen, you will need:

the jute itself;
bitumen or resin (for felt jute);
formalin (for jute tow).

Work order:

The tow is soaked in a formaldehyde solution.
The material is rolled into strands and filled into the cracks. lower crown.
Using a tool, push in the hanging edges.
Using a groove, level the position of the insulation layer.

Important! When processing the area around the chimney pipe, you need to leave about 3 cm of the surface untouched.

Caulking with sealant

Caulk timber house using sealant is the fastest way. To work you will need yourself synthetic material, a cord for filling cracks, a special spatula for smoothing seams (you can take a narrow spatula), a mounting gun.

Putting up a log house from a log or timber is not the whole task. It is also necessary to properly caulk this log house: to seal the gaps between the crowns and the cracks that form when the wood dries out. This is done so that the log house of the bathhouse loses as little heat as possible. The quality of the log house's assembly is determined by how the crowns are laid. It is important not only to cut out the bowls and grooves correctly, but also to lay inter-crown insulation between two rows of logs or beams.

The insulation is installed during the assembly stage of the log house

What it will be - moss, tow or jute - is up to you, but such a layer must be present. When building a log house, you need to lay insulation in two layers:

on the lower crown so that the edges of the insulation protrude beyond the edges of the bowl by 3-5 cm, the width of the insulation, in general, is taken 5-10 cm more than the width of the bowl;
Insulation is also placed in the bowl of the upper crown; its edges protrude beyond the bowl by 3-5 cm.

Please note that when using moss or tow, there is no need to “tap” the material. When tapped with a hammer or an ax butt, the moss fibers break and dents form on the wood, which are directed across the fibers. Such damage can lead, in the future, to the development of foci of rotting. It is enough to simply compact the fibers with the palm of your hand, leveling and probing the layer; if you come across large foreign objects (cones or sticks are often found in moss), simply remove them.

When using tape insulation, you can fix it using a construction stapler - damage to the wood from the staples is minimal, and the material is held securely. It is advisable for two people to lay the “insulated” crowns so that they can take the log from both ends and lower it so as not to move the insulation.

All materials for caulking can be divided into two main categories: natural (tow, hemp, moss, jute, etc.) and industrial sealants. Sealants are applied faster and easier to work with. Usually, to reduce the consumption of sealant, a cord is placed in the gap between the rims, and only then a sealant is applied on top of it, which, when wet, is leveled with a special spatula.

Synthetic sealants have a number of disadvantages:

some of them do not tolerate exposure to ultraviolet radiation - when irradiated, they lose their properties, crumble and are blown away by the winds. The problem is solved by strengthening strips that will cover the seams from ultraviolet radiation;
Some sealants for log houses, when dry, form a monolith, which, when wood expands/contracts (depending on weather conditions), interferes with the process and contributes to the destruction of adjacent wood fibers. For this reason, it makes sense to use flexible sealants.

Elastic joint sealant for wood from EUROTEX

The video shows how to use Eurotex acrylic sealant for wood.

As a tool for leveling and removing excess sealant, you can use a regular tablespoon.

If you decide to use one of the sealants, carefully read the instructions and description, make sure that it is compatible with the type of wood from which the log house is built and can be used in your region ( temperature regime) and has the necessary qualities.

The use of sealant is justified in the case when it is used to seal caulked cracks: after caulking the log house twice with tow, moss or jute, wait for the log house to completely shrink and acquire operational dimensions, after which a cord is laid in the seams, and then the sealant is applied.

Natural materials for caulking also have their advantages and disadvantages, in addition, each of them requires certain preparation.

Moss

The most proven material for caulking a bathhouse is moss. It has been used for centuries. Today, many other materials have appeared, but they have not surpassed moss in terms of characteristics. It is more convenient to work with new materials (especially tape materials). This is undeniable, but the qualities of moss remained unattainable for them. Chief among them is the ability to resist bacteria and high resistance to rotting.

Not aesthetically pleasing, but practical

The moss is first dried and then wetted again before use. This restores elasticity to the stems. The soaked moss is laid out in an even layer so that its ends hang down on both sides of the log/beam. After completing the collection of the log house, too long stems of moss are trimmed, everything else is tucked in and tucked into the cracks of the log house - the initial caulking of the log house is performed. This is followed, after six months and after a year and a half, by repeated caulking.

Jute

Increasingly in construction wooden baths and jute is used in houses. And not just jute fibers, but roll material. Jute fiber has good characteristics: it has good heat-insulating properties, due to the large amount of lignin - a natural resin that serves as a binding element - it is practically not subject to rotting and has low hygroscopicity. Even with high humidity, the jute remains dry to the touch.

Jute insulation can be of several types:

Tow

Tow is waste that is generated during the primary processing of natural fibers. For caulking log houses, tow made from jute, hemp and flax is used. The characteristics of the material and its quality depend on the source raw materials, the degree of purification of the fibers and their length. Construction tow is pressed into square blocks. To use when caulking a log house, a strip of material is pulled out from a common block, twisted into a rope and placed in the seam. Combed tow, which is sold in rolls, is more convenient to use.

It is inconvenient to work with such material: to achieve a uniform layer when used as interventional insulation difficult, and for caulking a log house, tow is excessively rigid, which makes it almost impossible to achieve a tight filling of the seam the first time, and you have to periodically re-caulk it. If the choice is between moss and jute tow, then we can definitely say that moss is better for a bath - it has the ability to inhibit the development of putrefactive bacteria and fungi.

When to caulk a bathhouse

The log house is assembled, when is the first time you can caulk a fresh log bathhouse? If the log house was assembled using moss or tow, then remnants of material of different lengths stick out between the crowns. In this case, you can perform the initial caulking immediately: trim the overly long fibers, tuck them inward and tuck them into the seams. There is no need to be zealous about this. This is preliminary work, the purpose of which is to remove fibers. But this must be done following the rules of caulking. If the log house is assembled on tape insulation, nothing needs to be done.

The first “serious” caulking is carried out approximately six months after the collection of the log house. During this time, the logs/beams will lose most of the excess moisture, new cracks will appear, the crowns and corners will basically “sit” in place. At this time, the first caulking is carried out. After this process, you can install doors/windows.

A second caulk will be needed about a year after the first. A year and a half has passed since the construction of the log house, the log house has become stable. Now all seams and cracks are checked, all defects are eliminated. Depending on the material and quality of work, it may be necessary, in another five years, to caulk the seams again. But there have been cases (usually this is the result of the work of “shabashniks”) when caulking errors are corrected for several years in a row. Most often, this need arises if the log house was built without inter-crown insulation.

How much tow do you need for a bath?

Any natural material for caulking, it is compressed many times during installation and a large amount of it can fit into a log house, even with good interventional insulation. No one can say exactly how much tow is needed for a bathhouse: it also depends on what material the log house is assembled from and how the grooves are cut out in the logs. At manual chopping grooves, as a rule, more material is lost. Also, a sanded log requires more material compared to a rounded one. Less is required for a log house, but even here the amount of tow or moss that will be used to seal the cracks depends on the accuracy of the geometry of the beam and the depth/number of cracks that appear during drying.

Caulking rules

Caulking a log house is not a very difficult task, but it is long and tedious. Everything needs to be done thoroughly and slowly, so it takes a lot of time - it took 10 days to caulk a small 5*4 bathhouse (one worked for 7-8 hours).

The main thing is not to overdo it in the efforts made when hammering in the insulation, which can lead to the log house rising by 15 cm or more.

Rules for caulking a log house:

- You need to start from the bottom crown, moving along the entire perimeter, first from the outside of the building, then caulk the same crown from the inside. And only after that start processing the next crown.
- When caulking, pay attention Special attention at the corners - this is where the most significant gaps are often found.
- During primary caulking, you first need to pick up the hanging material, bend it down and tuck it into the gap. The tool should be used as needed. Perform this operation on a section about a meter long, then move on to the next section.
- In the same area, use caulk and a wooden mallet (sometimes a hammer is used, but the mallet does not knock off your hands so much) to compact the material. You need to hit the caulk until the material begins to spring back. Then move on to the next section.
- After compaction, a gap formed. A piece of insulation is again placed in it. If it is tow, you need to roll it into a rope of the required thickness or tear off a piece of the required length from the tape. This piece is also hammered with caulk and a mallet until a springy effect appears. Repeat this operation until the gap is completely filled and move on to the next section.

Like every business, caulking requires certain skills. Since there will be more than one such procedure, you will eventually gain skills. As you gain experience, you will notice the mistakes that you made at the beginning of your activity - this will be your chance to eliminate them. Actually, it is not the gods who burn the pots, but it is possible to caulk a log house more or less efficiently even if you have no experience.