This log home in Joelton, just north of Nashville, had rot spread across the side wall and into the corner by the front porch. During our site visit, we marked each damaged log and log end with tape. The before photo shows how much of the wall was affected, especially the lower courses, the logs around the window, and nearly every log end on the porch corner.

Several logs had been “repaired” before with thin log siding patched over the damage. The rot behind those patches was never fully removed, so it kept spreading underneath. We pulled the patches we were replacing, cut out all of the rot, and installed new logs. That’s the difference between covering damage and actually fixing it.

Corner log ends are some of the most exposed wood on a log home. The end grain soaks up water, and once rot starts there, it works its way into the wall. We replaced the damaged log ends at both corners, along with full and partial logs across the lower courses and around the window. Each one was matched to the size and profile of the originals.

There are more siding patches higher on the wall, which the homeowners chose to hold off on for now. Because rot behind a patch keeps spreading, we recommend having any old patch repairs checked before small damage turns into a bigger replacement.

To keep costs down, the homeowners are staining the new logs themselves. The result is a solid, weathertight wall and corners rebuilt to last, the kind of work many Middle Tennessee log homes need after decades of humid summers and heavy rain.