Insect damage to bottom of wall studs

[ClaudiaH]

Hi everyone!

New member here. I have recently discovered insect damage to the bottom of several wall studs at and near the corner of my 2-story garage (studs are approx 20-ft long!). Much of the damage is remarkably straight-looking for damage from bugs! Anyway, the studs are no longer resting on the plate uniformly. Some gaps are a tiny fraction of an inch, some are a bit larger - many extend about halfway through the bottom of the studs. Plate is OK. At least the wall is not covered with drywall.

Insect extermination is underway - pharoah ants, apparently. Not termites, not carpenter ants.

To support the weight of the roof and large garage door (both are affected), I am thinking of shimming the areas that are chewed away with some galvanized sheet metal that I have. I may have to call a contractor, but if I can get away with shimming for awhile, that would be my preference.

Ideas? Thanks so much for your help!

 

[PCustoms]

Post a picture.

Better way to fix it is likely to sister in a length of stud, or cut the damaged stud short and add another section of plate in.

 

[egdede]

picture please. It sounds like you might be describing expected gaps if galvanized shims truly solve the problem. What I mean is that termites would keep going right up to your top plate if the wood was good to their taste : )

 

[ClaudiaH]

Thanks for replying! The damage is hard to see with a picture, unfortunately. I probe with a thin screwdriver to feel how deep the damage goes. and where. On most of the studs, the damage at the outer edge is invisible (narrow gap, where the wood doesn't touch the plate) - or only a small section of the wood appears missing at the outside edge, but the damage goes deep on some of the studs.

I have read that a sister stud can only be full length on a load-bearing wall....

 

[ClaudiaH]

Not termites, pharoah ants. Very small but can do serious destruction very quickly. I know that there are nest galleries inside, but the wood feels sound and sounds pretty good when I rap on it.

The gaps feel remarkably even when I probe with a screwdriver. These ants seem to know how to chew in straight lines. The straight lines/even gaps aren't everywhere, but I could shim up some areas to reduce the stress on the studs.

 

[ClaudiaH]

I may be able to do the cut the stud and add a section of plate trick. Interesting idea, PCustoms! Probably better than shimming.

 

[PCustoms]

Sounds like your studs are just cut a tad short or dried out and a gap opened up.

Ants aren't going to evenly eat the end of a stud to leave a gap so narrow you can't take a pic.

If they tunneled up the stud and caused structural damage then shimming the gap won't do anything.

 

[ClaudiaH]

Unfortunately, the gaps don't extend all the way through the stud, and there were the ants and a LOT of sawdust there. The gaps I'm talking about are perhaps 1/16-1/8 inch. Agreed that there may be too much damage from the tunneling, I need to look into that more. The outside of the wood looks pristine. I'll try to take a picture, but I don't know how much that will help.

 

[The Cobbler]

(studs are approx 20-ft long!).

unless you're in a very old house with balloon framing, you studs won't be 20' long.
I agree that pictures would help . it seems odd how they just nibbled away at the lower portion of the studs.

 

[ClaudiaH]

Studs are 20 feet long because the garage has a ceiling that is up over 20 feet. Stud is one piece except for two of the studs in the photos I'm about to share, which extend up to the header of the garage door.

 

[gahrajmahal]

You or someone experienced needs to look at the studs with an infrared camera to better assess the damage. Hold the ceiling up with house jacks then cut out the bad material then sister in new pressure treated wood. A galvanized plate isn’t a bad idea.

 

[stickshift]

1. sounds like you should sister in studs, rather than shimming potentially compromised studs. And closely examine the bottom plate for damage.
2. figure out how the ants got there. With termites, it's pretty easy to figure out and prevent it going forward. Dunno about pharoah ants, but you'll want to figure out how to prevent them from accessing those tasty studs going forward.

 

[ClaudiaH]

Photos. These are three immediately adjacent studs to the left of the garage door. I can't get a good pic of all three at once because the garage track (on left in first pic) is in the way. The two rightmost studs have the most lost wood at the bottom. The ants were working diligently at the bottom of those studs when they were first discovered. Orange stuff is ant bait, and some wiring is visible. On the first pic, you see a very long thin screwdriver inserted into the gap under the rightmost stud - it goes in over an inch, but not the full depth of the stud. Thanks!

 

[ClaudiaH]

stickshift, I live in a partially woody area. Lots of ants and termites around. I have a good relationship with an excellent exterminator. It's hard to completely avoid these critters here. The treatment that the exterminator will apply tomorrow should prevent a re-infestation. I didn't catch this sooner because I was very busy with summer projects.

 

[ClaudiaH]

The plate is pressure-treated wood, and the ants seem entirely uninterested in it.

 

[The Cobbler]

they sure look like cuts from a saw. so very straight .

 

[ClaudiaH]

gahrajmahal, an infrared camera will show the tunneling in the wood? Sounds like a very useful tool....

 

[stickshift]

they sure look like cuts from a saw. so very straight .

LOL, if that was ants, I'd like to hire them to cut, errr, I mean chew, some wood for me.

 

[ClaudiaH]

The Cobbler, I agree! But I'm seeing evidence that the cuts don't go all the way through when I probe with the screwdriver. I've been puzzled, too. It may be that the presence of the ants are revealing a problem that existed before. Stranger things have happened to me!

 

[ClaudiaH]

I'm trying to reconcile all the sawdust and the presence of pharaoh ants with possible wood damage. If they just pop under existing gaps and tunnel in the wood, at least there aren't new gaps - but existing gaps are still a problem, as is tunneling damage... I appreciate all the replies, this is helping me a lot!

 

[ClaudiaH]

I'm thinking my screwdriver may be running into the nails that go into the plate. Hmmm....

 

[stickshift]

I'm trying to reconcile all the sawdust and the presence of pharaoh ants with possible wood damage. If they just pop under existing gaps and tunnel in the wood, at least there aren't new gaps - but existing gaps are still a problem, as is tunneling damage... I appreciate all the replies, this is helping me a lot!

Your exterminator should be very familiar with what pharoah ant damage looks like, and if it's his opinion those very neatly trimmed stud bottoms are ant damage, who am I to say otherwise. Carpenter ants tunnel, termites tunnel. But maybe pharoah ants are the miter saws of wood eating insects? Or maybe these studs were cut too short and that is separate from the ant damage.

 

[ClaudiaH]

LOL, stickshift - exactly! Unfortunately, the exterminator inspector who visited yesterday was a substitute guy - perhaps not as conversant with pharaoh ants as my usual guy, who was sick. The tech who is coming tomorrow should know more. I still need to consider how to deal with the gaps, I think. I'll look into getting access to an infrared camera, too. It's interesting that none of the other studs I examined that had no sawdust nearby had the gaps - that threw me off. Maybe I need to check ALL the studs I can access in the garage....

 

[ClaudiaH]

Thanks for your feedback, everyone! Sometimes it just takes fresh eyes and brains to figure out the obvious, lol....

 

[Rusted Nut]

Somebody trained those ants very well, they’ve eaten the studs off straighter than most saws would cut. Your studs dried and shrunk a bit.

 

[PCustoms]

Photos. These are three immediately adjacent studs to the left of the garage door. I can't get a good pic of all three at once because the garage track (on left in first pic) is in the way. The two rightmost studs have the most lost wood at the bottom. The ants were working diligently at the bottom of those studs when they were first discovered. Orange stuff is ant bait, and some wiring is visible. On the first pic, you see a very long thin screwdriver inserted into the gap under the rightmost stud - it goes in over an inch, but not the full depth of the stud. Thanks!

I suspected it, your pics confirm it and others have stated it too.

That's not ant damage, that's ****** rough carpentry. You're correct that you're likely hitting nails when you probe.

The fact that hasn't settled closed tells me that might not be as load bearing as you think, got an exterior shot where you can't point out this area from outside?

Unless you've got massive damage and active settling, once the exterminator is done I'd be inclined to leave it alone.

 

[Joemctag]

I’d cut out the affected studs high enough to get to sound wood. Add in a new piece, maybe pressure-treated. Then add a sister stud from bottom plate up to have a few feet overlapsith remaing good part of stud. Fasten with polyurethane glue from a tube ( PL ) is the brand where I’m at. And screws that are suitable for P.T. wood, if you used tgat.

 

[ClaudiaH]

I suspected it, your pics confirm it and others have stated it too.

That's not ant damage, that's ****** rough carpentry. You're correct that you're likely hitting nails when you probe.

The fact that hasn't settled closed tells me that might not be as load bearing as you think, got an exterior shot where you can't point out this area from outside?

Unless you've got massive damage and active settling, once the exterminator is done I'd be inclined to leave it alone.

Thanks! Well, the leftmost stud definitely goes all the way to the roof, and the other two support the garage door header, which itself supports multiple studs that go to the roof. MASSIVE gently sloping roof with no post supports inside the 25' x 25' garage, just support around the perimeter. I'm surprised that the studs didn't settle - I would have expected such gaps to close. Nothing looks wrong from the outside, and of course the gaps are very small. I may have a carpenter friend come have a look, but that could take awhile - he's VERY busy, which is why I was looking for insights online. I guess my main concern now is tunneling damage in the studs, but so far it's not enough to cause any noticeable problems.

 

[PCustoms]

Thanks! Well, the leftmost stud definitely goes all the way to the roof, and the other two support the garage door header, which itself supports multiple studs that go to the roof. MASSIVE gently sloping roof with no post supports inside the 25' x 25' garage, just support around the perimeter. I'm surprised that the studs didn't settle - I would have expected such gaps to close. Nothing looks wrong from the outside, and of course the gaps are very small. I may have a carpenter friend come have a look, but that could take awhile - he's VERY busy, which is why I was looking for insights online. I guess my main concern now is tunneling damage in the studs, but so far it's not enough to cause any noticeable problems.

Is this wall (with the door) the Gable end?

 

[jack stand]

I think that you might be overly worried. Get on a treatment schedule to assure whatever the ants are doing doesn't continue.
If you just need to know what or IF something is going on, snap a few lines horizontally and keep a notebook with the measurement down to masonry. You can also attach a 4' level to the header, perfectly level, leave it there and monitor it periodically.
Hopefully it's all good and a false alarm.

Of course this is a ridiculous suggestion based on little information. But those are my thoughts with what you've presented and how I'd handle it before I started cutting things apart. I've taken down buildings that appeared perfect, no observable sag in the floors, eaves, or ridge only to find corner timbers that were 50-60% hollowed out by some type of bug.

 

[jkuro]

I would also correct the water, moisture getting in. Rusted staples and staining on the wood.

 

[couch67]

that longer stud may have been hammered in after the wall was put together, and forced the gap. but I dont see any toenailing though, so maybe the short studs were like that right from the get go

 

[ClaudiaH]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone!

jack stand, your idea about the level on the header is particularly interesting to me - I'll probably do that. And yes, it makes sense that sometimes everything looks fine externally but there is a lot of damage.

jkuro, I live in the Pacific Northwest, which is wet much of the year. Given that this is a garage, I can't easily stop the moisture. The ant-infiltrated wood is not getting wet from rain, plumbing, etc., but I'm sure that the moisture content is high in the wood. Even in the sunny summer, humidity here is VERY high, often at 100%.

PCustoms, I'm attaching a photo of (most of) the front of the house - sorry, not home right now to take a better pic. Where the ants have been operating is at the right side of the garage door, viewed from outside. That part is not in the picture, but you can see the slope of the roof. Approx 1/2 of the 17-ft wide garage door is shown, and the corner of the garage is less than 2 ft to the right side of the door.

 

[tmp]

Probably not a huge load on those studs. Most of your roof load is going to be on the perpendicular walls.

IMHO whether this is bug damage or not, you’re overthinking it. Have your bug guy start a preventative treatment plan, and monitor the situation. It’s not going to fall down tomorrow, and you have good access to keep an eye on things.

 

[ClaudiaH]

I am seeing that I've been overthinking this, and will take a step back. The exterminator did a great job today and will be back soon, and I'm sure the ants will be gone in short order. Thanks again, everyone!