Board and batten bugs!

[rcurrier44]

Since it looks like we got a bunch of guys with board and batten experience here on the forum. Does anyone else have issues with flies and wasps? They just love the board and batten siding on my garage!

I’m going to have to blast and refinish the log area anyway and I’m thinking about just pulling the board and batten to replace with something else. Any suggestions? I was thinking about just going with metal siding.

Thanks!
Rob





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[Bolson32]

Interesting, I wonder if this is only a problem with real wood and not LP SmartSide or Cementboard(obviously not).

I assume keeping a good stain or seal on it helps?

 

[77flh]

We fight carpenter bees on our wood outbuildings. I’ve found spraying with termite and carpenter ant concentrate mix found at farm stores works great. We spray in the spring with a simple deck sprayer.

 

[paredown]

I had to fight carpenter bee infestations the first 7 or 8 years we were here. And the POs had already replaced most of the fascia once with cedar (originally cypress). The siding is vertical reverse board and batten.

Then I read that carpenter bees don't like stained/finished wood--and what we had was torn up by a overly-vigorous power washing to leave it looking somewhat like natural wood, but with patches of old stain, and sections of wildly different colors.

I chose a semi-solid stain, since tests with light stuff still showed bleed-though of the incomplete cleaning of the previous stain and weathering. Cleaned thoroughly, and hand brushed a good two coats of stain, patching many bee holes as I went...

Since then, no carpenter bees in the fascias or elsewhere, although they did get into one of the exposed clear finished beam ends. And I have a infestation in one of the other beam ends of the tiniest boring wasps I have ever seen--they leave a hole that is less than 1/8" of an inch, and a tiny trail of sawdust....

But since I stained all the siding and fascia, I have not had the annual spring ritual of dragging around a ladder and spraying or dusting into bee holes, patching and repeating.

 

[Bretny]

I have a BandB shabin in the woods north of me. We got it last year and stained with oil based stain. Nothing has tried to eat it. However the wood under my carport at home the carpenter bees like to chew on. Nothing to major though and when I hear them buzzing around i just wack them with a piece of wood.

They also dont bother my motor oil stained shed at home.

 

[240sxguy]

I have board and batten, and my house is painted. The bugs don't really seem to bother it. I am in WI so I am sure I have different pests here than you do.

 

[rcurrier44]

But since I stained all the siding and fascia, I have not had the annual spring ritual of dragging around a ladder and spraying or dusting

Maybe that’s all there is to it. We recently bought this place after renting it for a bit, and it hasn’t been stained for at least 10 years.

This picture was last year after one day of having the trap out. I definitely put a dent in them last year but need to figure out wwhat the real solution is.




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