Removed walls, wall studs look strange - termites?

[stickshift]

Redoing a room and ripped out the drywall. Majority of the wall studs look ok, but some look a bit odd:

1. some have vertical slits
2. some have a strange surface texture
3. one looks like it might just be cracks

Does this look like termite (or other insect) damage? If so, is there a suitable insecticide (considering this is an occupied house) I can apply before installing new drywall?

Should I replace all of these studs?

 

[kazlx]

Pics aren't great, but looks like termite damage. Just poke the studs with a screwdriver or something and if there's voids, you'll know the studs are damaged. Yes you should replace the studs. You should definitely call out a pest control company and have them either treat locally or possibly tent depending on what's going on. Otherwise, you'll just have the same problem.

 

[RKA]

That's clearly termite damage. They eat and follow the softer pulpy wood (first) and that's why those hollows follow the grain. All that mud and dirt is termite poop. The last pic just looks like a cracked stud, however, the bottom of the picture looks like it might be termite damage, not sure.

First open up the walls and mark out where you have good framing. Everything else will need to be replaced. Find out if there is a water leak in the area. They are typically attracted to moist wood, but once they make their home, they keep eating. If you don't deal with the wet wood, they will be back no matter what you do.

I believe Termidor SC can be applied inside the wall cavity before you close it up. I would do this. I would also consider a professional treatment around the perimeter of the house. Odds are there is a colony close enough to the house, so they will keep coming. The treatment will wipe out the colony for the near term, another will take it's place eventually. So you will probably want to revisit the treatments every 5-7 years if you want to keep them at bay.

 

[Dave Nelson]

Make sure if you have a basement or crawl space to check the sill plates and box beams, many times this is where you will find damage first.

 

[pcmeiners]

Termidor SC, stuff is great. Buy on Ebay. Use as directed, if applied in soil, make sure pets do not access it. If you have old tree stumps or buried construction debris, treat them.

 

[RKA]

One more thing, in terms of marking out and removing the bad wood, start with where you see visible damage or signs of mud (their mud tunnels and poop). That's where they have been. Cut across the wood and look for holes. If you see their tunnels in the wood, cut back another 6", rinse and repeat until you've reached wood with zero signs of termites. On the sheetrock, you'll see little pin holes. They burrow out, see daylight and go back into the darkness. So that's another indication that the wall needs to be removed for inspection.

 

[akdiesel]

We had similar damage at our cabin but it was due to carpenter ants.
As mentioned replace them but you also need to stop or fix the reason that attracted them there.
Previous owners stacked wood under the cabin and water from not having gutters attracted the ants in our case. Don’t know much about termites though.

 

[rlitman]

We had similar damage at our cabin but it was due to carpenter ants.
As mentioned replace them but you also need to stop or fix the reason that attracted them there.
Previous owners stacked wood under the cabin and water from not having gutters attracted the ants in our case. Don’t know much about termites though.

Termites eat wood. This is clearly termite damage.
Carpenter ants chew through rotting wood, but will not eat dry solid wood. This is clearly not carpenter ant damage.

 

[All]

Termites. No doubt whatsoever.

Those studs need to come out.

They could be hollow inside.

Scraping off soil and termite castings from the surface of the stud and spraying with poison is not going to fix a studs that are hollowed out like swiss cheese. I've seen and sliced open many a wall stud that had this problem.

I'd replace the affected studs with new studs that are sound and solid.

 

[xyster101]

Get a pro to spray outside and inside. They will push a rod into the ground about a foot and spary with 2 ft spacing. It is usually guaranteed for 5 years and that alone is worth the cost of the professional spraying.
If you can poke a screwdriver into the wood, replace it. If it looks really bad, just replace them.
They went there because wood was wet. Figure out why and keep that from happening.

 

[rlitman]

Get a pro to spray outside and inside. They will push a rod into the ground about a foot and spary with 2 ft spacing. It is usually guaranteed for 5 years and that alone is worth the cost of the professional spraying.
If you can poke a screwdriver into the wood, replace it. If it looks really bad, just replace them.
They went there because wood was wet. Figure out why and keep that from happening.

Termites do not necessarily need wet wood. The need a path back to the wet ground, but that is it. Once they reach dry wood, they do not stop.

If it was my house, I'd gut at least two feet past any active infestation (check with an awl), and spray any visible good wood with Bora Care (follow the instructions, the mixing and timing are important). Then I'd decide whether to spray destroyed wood and sister it (if it has any structural strength left, and is difficult to replace), or just replace it (if replacement is easy). I'd be replacing the sill at least with pressure treated lumber (use hot dipped galvanized in this), and everything I replaced would be sprayed with Bora Care.

You're also going to need to put support into place before you remove anything, and will probably have to jack things up a bit.

Around here, any real chemicals that control termites on the label can only be sold to licensed professionals. So either order your Fipronil and Bora Care from an unscrupulous out of state dealer, or call a pro in.

VERY IMPORTANT! DO NOT use any products labeled for termites sold at Home Depot or other stores to the public. These are repellent products, and will cause the termites to move to other sections of your house. You need a non-repellent termiticide.

 

[SickSpeedMonte]

I just went through this with floor joists. There was one joist that looked perfectly fine from the outside but once you poked it (with your finger) it collapsed in many spots. Definitely poke the surrounding area with a screwdriver and replace as necessary. They like to travel through the wood, so check the floor plate, subfloor, sheathing, trim, and joists underneath that area. They live in the ground, up to 100 yards away, and come to your house to feed. They don't live there. You'll need someone to come out and put the rods in the ground to protect the house. Our rancher has a pretty big footprint and I was quoted $895 for the first year and then $100/year to maintain.

 

[RKA]

VERY IMPORTANT! DO NOT use any products labeled for termites sold at Home Depot or other stores to the public. These are repellent products, and will cause the termites to move to other sections of your house. You need a non-repellent termiticide.

Heed this advice! Termidor SC is not a repellent, so they will unknowingly come in contact and carry it back to the colony, eventually wiping out the colony (which is outside your house somewhere in the ground). That's the goal, not killing a bug at a time. This process can take 3-4 weeks after application to carry itself out.

After re-doing the framing, if you're going to spray the interior wall cavities yourself, stick to the dilution ratios on the bottle (just need a regular garden sprayer). Higher concentration is not better! If the concentration gets too high, they can detect it and just avoid it which defeats the purpose. But use a pro for the exterior application as already mentioned.

 

[rlitman]

Heed this advice! Termidor SC is not a repellent, so they will unknowingly come in contact and carry it back to the colony, eventually wiping out the colony (which is outside your house somewhere in the ground). That's the goal, not killing a bug at a time. This process can take 3-4 weeks after application to carry itself out.

After re-doing the framing, if you're going to spray the interior wall cavities yourself, stick to the dilution ratios on the bottle (just need a regular garden sprayer). Higher concentration is not better! If the concentration gets too high, they can detect it and just avoid it which defeats the purpose. But use a pro for the exterior application as already mentioned.

Termidor SC is fipronil based. It's a powerful termiticide (probably the best), and while I think it should be part of your repair plan, I wouldn't advise using it to treat new wood, because it is a surface treatment. Bora Care (which must be THOROUGHLY mixed with HOT water; follow the instructions and use a drill mixer and remember that this stuff sets up hard) will soak through wood entirely, making the core of 2x lumber toxic to termites. They claim that sufficient treatment on one side of a 2x will soak all the way through to the other side.

 

[redidbull]

After my Dad passed I inherited the house. My Son was moving in and he was moving his bed into the room and hit the door frame and it crushed. While doing some plumbing work in the basement I saw some mud tubes. I broke the tube and a few days later it was back. I got a guy in and it turned out the crushed door casing was termite damage. Guy checked the attic and all was OK that high up. He told me he had seen termites at the ridge. They came and in and injected stuff into the ground outside. Like mentioned get a pro in. They do lots of damage. They just keep eating and eating. Jim

 

[James-W]

I am in the same camp as the guys saying to bring in a pro. But I would go a bit further and say that if it were me I would rip down the drywall on the adjoining walls and see if there is any other damage. Maybe that is a bit overkill, but I figure drywall is relatively inexpensive and I would feel better knowing that other parts of the house weren't affected. If that makes me a little paranoid, well OK, I can live with that.

 

[BASFStewardship]

That's clearly termite damage. They eat and follow the softer pulpy wood (first) and that's why those hollows follow the grain. All that mud and dirt is termite poop. The last pic just looks like a cracked stud, however, the bottom of the picture looks like it might be termite damage, not sure.

First open up the walls and mark out where you have good framing. Everything else will need to be replaced. Find out if there is a water leak in the area. They are typically attracted to moist wood, but once they make their home, they keep eating. If you don't deal with the wet wood, they will be back no matter what you do.

I believe Termidor SC can be applied inside the wall cavity before you close it up. I would do this. I would also consider a professional treatment around the perimeter of the house. Odds are there is a colony close enough to the house, so they will keep coming. The treatment will wipe out the colony for the near term, another will take it's place eventually. So you will probably want to revisit the treatments every 5-7 years if you want to keep them at bay.

As the manufacturer of Termidor® products, we have committed to the EPA to carefully monitor, and instruct upon, the correct use of our products. As part of our commitment to EPA, we have monitored this site.

Your recent participation in a conversation around the BASF product Termidor® termiticide/insecticide gave us concern about your possible use of the product. While we do not have all the facts surrounding your use, it is important that you understand the following:
• Non-labeled use of federally registered pesticides is a violation of federal and state law.
• Uses not included on the Label have not been evaluated for human and environmental safety and can result in human and environmental hazard.
Please carefully review the label to confirm the legal permitted uses of Termidor. You may also visit our website, https://pestcontrol.basf.us/multime...sible-application-resource-for-termidor-.html, which also contains information on the proper use of Termidor. For any questions you may have, you may call us at 800-777-8570, or email questions to [email protected] . We also encourage you to share these resources with anyone you suspect may be involved in the non-labeled use of Termidor®.

Thank You
The BASF Product Stewardship Team

 

[All]

Big Brother is actually Big Brothers plural... and THEY are EVERYWHERE... "Monitoring" everything we say... in every venue.

 

[86turbodsl]

Termites in Long Island NY???? That far north! YIKES! What next? Fire ants?

 

[rlitman]

Termites in Long Island NY???? That far north! YIKES! What next? Fire ants?

 

[Bighead38]

Termites in Long Island NY???? That far north! YIKES! What next? Fire ants?

They go a lot farther than Long Island. Crazy that company joined the forum to post that.

 

[rlitman]

They go a lot farther than Long Island. Crazy that company joined the forum to post that.

Huh? I just posted a map made by Terminix. I've got no affiliation with them (well to be fair, I am related to an employee of theirs), but their map looked like the best I could find at the moment.

I see several other maps, and they all put the northernmost limit on the East Coast right in the bottom of Maine.

 

[SGKent]

2 cents worth. Termites can be plural colonies. Get a professional to treat the house. Get multiple bids and from people who have been around. You can call your realtor friends to find out who they use. Then when they are done, you can replace the damaged wood or if you want, hire a carpenter or GC. Sometimes termite companies can do the wood replacement too but it can be more expensive than if you did it. You shouldn't be worried about cosmetic damage but you should be concerned about structural damage. Might check your insurance policy to see if they will absorb any part of it.

 

[Moto]

Are there any live termites present? If not, it may be old damage from a termite colony that was eradicated by a previous owner of the house.

 

[Bighead38]

Huh? I just posted a map made by Terminix. I've got no affiliation with them (well to be fair, I am related to an employee of theirs), but their map looked like the best I could find at the moment.

I see several other maps, and they all put the northernmost limit on the East Coast right in the bottom of Maine.

I was responding to 86 turbo but watching the game. By the time I hit send you had posted the map.

 

[b-boy]

One of the biggest issues with termite wood is how flammable it can be.

It's tough to light a 2x4 on fire with a blow torch. It will generally smolder and go out.

Touch a piece of termite infested wood with a blow torch and it will go up like someone poured gasoline on it.

Ask me how I know that.

 

[nadogail]

In the city I live in there are only two kinds of buildings; those that have termites, and those that are going to get them.

Termites are seemingly everywhere.

 

[stickshift]

In the city I live in there are only two kinds of buildings; those that have termites, and those that are going to get them.

Termites are seemingly everywhere.

That saying applies to most of the US. They're not seemingly everywhere, they are indeed everywhere.

Anyone who doubts this, place a piece of untreated 2x4 on a patch of soil in your yard. Check back several months later.

 

[Red 17]

Those with the mud tubes are subterranean. Worst kind. From the Terminix site:

Subterranean termites are voracious feeders but they are somewhat picky. They only chew on the softest part of the wood found between the grains. Drywood termites eat across the grains, leaving galleries that don’t follow the grain of the wood. If you have neat, lined patterns of destruction that appears to include mud or dirt, subterranean termites are likely the culprit. Erratic, smooth galleries that contain ***** pellets, are likely the work of an army of drywood termites.