Log Home Restoration in Bainbridge, GA

Log Homes in Bainbridge and Decatur County

Bainbridge began with a frontier fort. In November 1817, during the First Seminole War, U.S. troops built Fort Hughes on a bluff at what is now Chason Park: a stockade 90 feet square with blockhouses at two opposite corners. The troops left after about three weeks, and the fort was burned. Today the City of Bainbridge marks the fort's corner in Chason Park with a log wall. The town was founded in 1823 as the seat of Decatur County and named for Commodore William Bainbridge of the frigate Constitution.

The Flint River made Bainbridge a river port and lumber town. In 1827 the steamboat Fanny became the first of more than 220 steamboats to stop here, hauling cotton, rosin, turpentine, lumber and shingles. When Georgia was first being settled, many families lived in one-room log houses and dogtrot houses — two log rooms joined by an open breezeway — with timber cut on the building site and shaped by hand. Log homes around Bainbridge today carry that tradition forward.

What Bainbridge's Climate Does to a Log Home

• Very hot summers. NOAA's Bainbridge station averages about 99 days a year at 90°F or hotter.
• More freezing nights than the Florida coast. The same station averages about 39 nights a year at or below freezing, so logs and chinking see big swings between seasons.
• Plenty of rain. Donalsonville, about 20 miles west, averages about 57 inches a year; July is the wettest month.
• Hurricane winds reach inland. During Hurricane Michael in 2018, a 115 mph gust was measured in Donalsonville, and NWS Tallahassee reported catastrophic timber damage mainly in Seminole, Decatur and Miller counties.
• Termites. Georgia is part of the "termite belt," and subterranean termites need moisture, usually from the soil.

What That Means for Your Log Home

Heat, summer rain and a fair number of freezing nights all put stress on logs and the joints between them. Wash your logs once a year with soft brushes and a low-pressure rinse, never a pressure washer, and plan on a UV protective coat about every third year, as appropriate. Keep an eye on chinking and caulking for gaps that open up over the winter. Keep bottom logs dry and off the soil, and pull mulch and firewood away from the walls. Michael showed how much damage falling pines can do, so keep an eye on big trees near the house and walk around it after every major storm. We repair termite and insect damage and apply Borate preventive treatment.

Related services: Termite & Insect Damage Repair · Chinking & Caulking · Log Home Inspections

Climate figures: NOAA 1991–2020 normals, Bainbridge (temperature) and Donalsonville (rainfall, nearest station). Storm details: NWS Tallahassee. History: Fort Hughes and Steamboats historical markers, New Georgia Encyclopedia. Termites: UGA Extension.