As wildfires have swept through both Northern and Southern California recently, it’s brought home the importance of putting disaster plans into place and knowing what to do to protect home and family.

For log home owners, the likelihood of being affect by forest fires or wildfires is the same as anyone else, however the likelihood of their log home surviving the fire is actually better than most. For several reasons, log homes are much more resistant to wildfire damage than traditional homes. The materials, structure, and building techniques used to construct log homes give them a definite advantage over their suburban neighbors when it comes to the damage that a forest fire or wildfire can create.

To start, the way that a log home is built is one of the reasons they are fire-resistant. The sheer mass of the logs used to build the structures makes it much harder for them to catch on fire. Just like when building a campfire, it takes smaller kindling burning awhile before the larger logs start burning. When a fast-moving fire comes up against a log home, as in the case of California’s wildfires, it’s similar to holding a match to a large tree stump. The fire isn’t able to catch right away and moves on quickly without doing much more than charring the surface. The charring affects only the appearance of the logs without causing structural damage, something ProLog Restorations can easily deal with by media blasting the sides, refinishing and staining.

Charring on the wood can also help protect the home as well. Once wood develops a thin layer of char, the char can act as an insulator which slows the burn rate dramatically. This is important for a log home because logs can retain a majority of their strength even if they sustain fire damage. This retention of strength leads to a retention of structural integrity.

In the case of slower moving fires that can smolder for some time, however, log homes can sustain structural damage that require repair. A log home restoration and log home fire damage repair specialist like ProLog Restorations can replace damaged portions of the logs, and restore its beauty and functionality. If you have a log home recently damaged in the California wildfires, please give us a call at 877-477-6564.