Log Home Restoration in Williston, FL

Log Homes in Williston and Levy County

Levy County was created in 1845 as Florida's 27th county. Williston takes its name from Jesse Mercer Willis, who was born in Georgia in 1822 and settled in Levy County in 1853. He worked as a farmer, merchant, teacher, church deacon, tax collector and postmaster, and the town grew up around him. Out on the Gulf, Levy County's forests fed a national industry. Pencil maker Eberhard Faber began buying timberland around Cedar Key in the 1850s, the first pencil mills there opened in 1865, and the Eagle Pencil Company built its own cedar slat mill in 1876. Red cedar went to pencil factories up north, and pine and cypress were cut for lumber, until the cedar ran out and a hurricane destroyed the mills in 1896.

Log building is still part of the county's life. In Chiefland, the Levy County Quilt Museum is housed in a 50-by-100-foot log house with porches all around, built largely with donated labor. Across Levy, Marion, Alachua and Gilchrist counties, the log homes we care for around Williston, Bronson, Archer, Morriston and Trenton face the same wet summers and pine-country storms.

What Williston's Climate Does to a Log Home

• Heavy summer rain. The NOAA station at Usher Tower, in Levy County west of Williston, averages about 57 inches of rain a year. About 26 inches fall June through August, and August alone averages nearly 10 inches.
• Heat. About 82 days a year reach 90°F or more.
• Freezes. About 15 nights a year drop to freezing, enough to work water deeper into open checks and joints.
• Idalia and Helene. Peak wind gusts in Levy County generally ran 60 to 70 mph in Hurricane Idalia (2023). A year later, Helene (2024) brought gusts of 55 to 65 mph. Wind like that brings down limbs and drives rain sideways into log walls.
• Irma (2017). Irma dropped more than 15 inches of rain near Bell in Gilchrist County and 10 to 12 inches across much of Alachua County.
• Termites. Native subterranean termites are found statewide. They need moisture and forage through the soil, so wood in contact with the ground, or wood that stays damp, is at risk.

What That Means for Your Log Home

With this much summer rain, the job is keeping water moving off the logs instead of soaking in. Wash the logs once a year with soft brushes and a low-pressure rinse, never a pressure washer, and add a UV protective coat every third year, as appropriate. Make sure gutters, downspouts and grading carry rain away from the house, and keep the bottom logs dry and clear of soil, mulch and firewood stacks. After a big blow like Idalia or Helene, walk around the house and check for limb damage, soaked lower logs, and chinking or caulking that has pulled away.

Related services: Maintenance Plans · Log Rot Repair · Chinking & Caulking

Climate figures: NOAA 1991–2020 normals, Usher Tower station (Levy County). Storm details: NWS Tampa Bay and Jacksonville. History: Visit Levy, Florida State Parks, Florida historical marker F-584. Termites: UF/IFAS.