Hello,

The purpose of this blog is to convey information to log home owners about the care and maintenance of their homes. I also hope it will become a place for the less practical — a place to tell stories about what these homes mean to our family histories and those of our ancestors. There is no doubt that log buildings hold a special place in our country’s history. Our company was founded to preserve the beauty of these log homes and cabins, their old-world craftsmanship, and the family histories they are so often intertwined with.

I thought back to the beginnings of this company when my family bought an old, broken-down log home. In  1978, my father, Peter Edmunds was a starving artist, emphasis on the “starving”.  With a family to feed and with a background in woodworking, he set out to buy, fix up and sell a few homes. After one or two not-so-successful ventures into “flipping houses”, he made his way up north in Wisconsin to try his hand at fixing a cabin in the woods. My folks bought a very run down 1930’s log cabin on Lake St. Croix near Solon Springs, Wisconsin.

My father set out to find someone who could help him get this place back into shape. No one was to be found. The place had many rotted logs and it was really difficult to figure out how to fix it. He looked for books on the subject of log home restoration and repair, but found nothing. Many local folks told him to tear it down. (Does that ring a bell for you perhaps?) In spite of having no directions on how to do it, he and my mom began to restore the old place. They replaced many rotten logs, repaired the chinking, and finished it. There certainly were many times that they questioned what they were doing.

Was it worth all the sweat, dirt and toil they had to go through to fix up this old place?

The “restoration”, as they called it, was complete by about 1982. There were times during the repair process when older builders would drop in a see what this “crazy guy” was doing. While making the repairs to the log cabin took much longer than they originally thought, they said it was worth it. They felt that the craftsmanship of the “old timers” who built the place was worth preserving.

After the restoration was complete, one of the people my dad met during the repair of the cabin mentioned that the Lucius Woods State Park across the lake had a couple old CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) buildings that needed repair. These buildings were built around the same time as our “restoration”.  It seemed a perfect fit. My dad got that job and hired a couple of guys that autumn and he stayed up North to complete the restoration of the Lucius Woods State Park project that fall.

From there our business grew through word of mouth. There were really no other contractors around doing this specific type of work. People told other people what we were doing and this led us to some interesting projects those first few years. Our company has grown to a year-round business now, with two log crews and one sandblasting crew in the summer months.

We have helped to restore over 1000 buildings in the 32 years we have been in business.  My wife, Kris and I took over the business in 2004 when Peter and Polly retired.   We continue to help people restore their log homes all over the upper Midwest. The most satisfying part of what we do is keeping the dream of the family cabin alive. Our clients want to keep the character and beauty of their homes in the best shape possible. We frequently hear how many wonderful memories are tied to these log buildings. We are in business to help them to preserve the past for future generations to enjoy.

We continue to be a small, family-owned company dedicated to the preservation of log homes and quality service.  Over the years we have developed the skills and artistry and have invested in the proper equipment that makes it possible for us to professionally fix any problem that these log cabins and houses have.

We started this blog is part of our commitment to provide quality services. I will continue to update this blog  regularly. The blog is for those who love their log home and want to care for it. It will include practical tips and stories, pointing out the headaches and joys that come from living in and with log homes.

Future post subjects will include:

• Log railings: A discussion on what an owner can expect and how to maintain them.
• Epoxy – where it makes sense to use it in repairing log homes and where it does not.
• How to prevent decay in your logs.
• Answers to frequently asked question: What finish should I use on my logs?

Feel free to add to our blog. Ask your questions, share thoughts and concerns about life in a log home, or tell us a meaningful story about the history of your log building.

Thank you,

Matt Edmunds