Just about every morning for the past 58 years, Adrian Atkins has woken up surrounded by the warmth and rugged charm of his Ward cedar log home. Adrian’s love for the Ward brand began when he was still in high school in the early 1950s. “My dad, a building contractor, took us to where they were making the logs,” he recalls. “It took us all day to tour the place, and I fell in love with it.” After becoming a civil engineer, Adrian also took on the title of Ward representative. In 1964, he built a five-bedroom Ward home to share with his wife and three children. (With open cathedral ceilings and the primary bedroom on the main, the design was ahead of its time.)

Ah, spring. It’s all about new beginnings, which means there’s no better time to give your log home a freshening up. Just like the interiors of your home get a boost from a spring cleaning, the exterior of your log, timber, or hybrid home benefit from a little extra attention, too.

Most homeowners admire the exterior of their homes often but from afar — say, when pulling up to the house or doing yard work — but performing an intentional visual inspection of your logs and timbers is important to keep them in tip-top condition. The warmer weather that spring brings makes it an ideal time to perform an annual once-over of your logs.

Here are three common log home threats to look out for (plus an action plan!) as you ready your log home for spring:
 

It’s no secret that every phase of the log home journey — buying a lot, selecting, and customizing your plan and completing your build — comes with its own set of challenges and opportunities. Often, one of the biggest sticking points for homeowners is, well, sticking to a budget. Thankfully, for every challenge, there is an opportunity — and that includes the possibility of keeping more cash in your pocket.

Here are three tips for keeping costs down through every part of your building journey:
 

As we look ahead to 2023, we’re also looking back. We’re excited to announce a milestone we’re proud of: Ward Cedar Log Homes is celebrating 100 years of building quality log homes for satisfied customers. And, in honor of the occasion, we are taking a step back in time. Join us as we journey to the year 1923: Calvin Coolidge is president. The most famous person in America is Babe Ruth. Yankee Stadium opened. The Walt Disney Company was born … and so was Ward Cedar Log Homes. 

Designing a log, hybrid or timber home from the ground up is exciting … thrilling … glamorous, even! And, while it is all of those things, the truth is that there are a few parts of the process that can feel dull or even daunting for those who are new to building. One of those areas is finances.

In order to build that lakeside escape for the family or a mountain getaway for two, you’ve got to first have your finances in order. So before you move beyond dreaming into the first real-life phase of picking out a log cabin kit and designing your home, take our quick financial check-up.