The exterior of the Historical Society’s log cabin in the Garnavillo Park was recently “re-chinked.” A 3-man crew from “888-Log-Guys” out of Ozark, Missouri, completed the work over a 3 day period. “Chinking” (sometimes called “daubing”), is the process of filling the gaps between the individual logs. The old, failed chinking had to be removed and replaced with new chinking. The last comprehensive restoration work on the cabin, including chinking, was done in 2012. Some log preservation work was done in 2019. And, a log on the west side was replaced in 2020. The 1831 log cabin was reconstructed in the Garnavillo Park in 1976.
Society Board member, David Beck had spent the last couple years looking for an “expert” in this area to do the “re-chinking” without success. This year he found “888 Log Guys.” The Ozark, Missouri’s crew travels throughout the midwest doing maintenance and restoration work on expensive log homes, historic cabins and everything in between. The cabin’s exterior re-chinking was funded by the Garnavillo Historical Society and a private donor.
Plans are being made to replace a log on the east side of the cabin and re-chink the interior next year.