Log Home Restoration in Jacksonville, FL

Log Homes in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida

Jacksonville started as a river crossing. In the 1760s the British called the narrow point on the St. Johns River where the road crossed the "Cow Ford." By 1822 the town had been renamed for Andrew Jackson, and in 1832 it received a town charter. It was built on pine: by the 1850s, rafts, barges and steamboats brought lumber down the river to Jacksonville's sawmills, and turpentine from the surrounding forests came to the city to be processed and shipped. On May 3, 1901, a kitchen-fire spark landed on Spanish moss drying at a mattress factory, and the Great Fire that followed destroyed 146 city blocks and 2,368 buildings.

Out in the countryside, settlers built with logs. The Burnsed Blockhouse in Baker County was built in 1837 from squared, hand-hewn logs of local yellow pine, joined at the corners with full dovetails, and sheltered settler families during the Seminole Wars. People lived in it until 1966. Today it's restored at Heritage Park in Macclenny, which calls it the last example of original blockhouse architecture in Florida, and it's on the National Register of Historic Places. The log homes we care for in Baker, Nassau, Clay and St. Johns counties are built from the same kind of wood and live with the same climate.

What Jacksonville's Climate Does to a Log Home

• Rain, heaviest late in the season. Jacksonville averages about 53 inches of rain a year, and more than half falls June through September. September is nearly as wet as June.
• Heat. About 80 days a year reach 90°F or more, and July highs average 92°F.
• Freezes. About 14 nights a year drop to freezing.
• River flooding. Hurricane Irma (2017) set record flood levels on the St. Johns River at many places in Duval County, and brought major or record river flooding to Clay, St. Johns and Nassau counties.
• Hurricanes. Hurricane Dora came ashore near St. Augustine on September 10, 1964, with winds of about 115 mph, the first hurricane on record to make landfall there.
• Termites. UF/IFAS Duval County Extension works with a Jacksonville Formosan Termite Task Force. Formosan termites here swarm May to July, flying toward lights at dusk, and like native subterranean termites they need moisture.

What That Means for Your Log Home

Around Jacksonville, most of the risk comes from water. An annual log wash with soft brushes and a low-pressure rinse, never a pressure washer, keeps pollen, dirt and mildew off the finish, and a UV protective coat every third year, as appropriate, keeps the stain working. Keep gutters clear, slope the ground away from the walls, and keep the bottom logs dry and off the soil; Duval Extension recommends keeping exposed wood at least 6 inches above the soil line. After a storm or high water on the river, walk around the house and look for wet bottom courses, open chinking and impact damage before rot starts.

Related services: Maintenance Plans · Log Rot Repair · Termite & Insect Damage Repair

Climate figures: NOAA 1991–2020 normals, Jacksonville International Airport. Storm details: National Hurricane Center, NOAA AOML. Termites: UF/IFAS Duval County Extension. History: Florida Memory, City of Macclenny.