Log Home Restoration in Tampa / Lakeland, FL

Log Homes in Tampa and the Polk County Area

Tampa's first buildings were made of logs. Colonel George Mercer Brooke landed at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in January 1824 to set up Fort Brooke, and by that spring his soldiers had finished a commissary, a quartermaster's storehouse and a bakehouse. Brooke called them "the best log buildings I have ever seen." In 1861 the eastern part of Hillsborough County became Polk County, which went on to lead the nation in citrus for much of the 20th century; in the early 1900s Bartow was the hub of the largest phosphate industry in the country.

You can still see log buildings from those years. At Homeland Heritage Park near Bartow, Polk County has preserved the English family's single-room log cabin, dated to 1888, next to an 1878 schoolhouse and an 1887 Methodist church. At Cracker Country on the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, one of the original buildings from 1870–1912 is a corn crib built of cypress logs. Today's log homes in Hillsborough and Polk counties are often on rural acreage or by the lakes around Lakeland.

What Tampa's Climate Does to a Log Home

• Long hot season. Tampa International Airport averages about 94 days a year at 90°F or above, and less than one freezing night a year.
• Late-summer downpours. Normal rainfall is about 49½ inches a year. About 61% falls June through September, and August is the wettest month at just over 9 inches.
• Lightning Alley. The National Weather Service names the Tampa Bay–to–Titusville corridor as the part of the U.S. with the most lightning each year. The Lakeland area averages 90–100 thunderstorm days a year.
• Hurricane Milton (2024). Milton brought peak gusts of 93 mph in Hillsborough County and 87 mph in Polk, dropped up to 18.82 inches of rain in Hillsborough and 16.55 inches in Polk, and set several record crests on the Hillsborough River.
• Termites. Native subterranean termites live statewide, Formosan termites are established in most large Florida cities, and a 2026 UF study found the invasive Asian subterranean termite as far north as Hillsborough County.

What That Means for Your Log Home

Around Tampa Bay and Lakeland, the biggest threats to a log home are summer rain and wind-driven storms. Wash the 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 for how much sun each wall gets. Keep the bottom logs off the soil and dry: pull back mulch, clear out plants growing against the house, and make sure downspouts drain away from the walls. After any tropical storm or hurricane, check the chinking, caulked joints and lower logs for water getting in. If you see live termites, call a licensed pest control company first; we repair the damage and can add a Borate treatment.

Related services: Maintenance Plans · Chinking & Caulking · Log Home Inspections

Climate figures: NOAA 1991–2020 normals, Tampa International Airport. Storm details: National Hurricane Center, NWS Tampa Bay and Melbourne. History: USF Tampa Bay History, Polk County, Florida State Fairgrounds. Termites: UF/IFAS.