Termite Damaged Header

[entrtaner]

Kevin54 - Ask for photos and ye shall receive. If there are any other pics that would help, let me know.

 

[SARG]

Termites in New York State ...... who knew ?

Damage like that around here is usually blamed on carpenter ants.

 

[entrtaner]

SARG - Came complete with mudtubes all over the place...mostly between the wood and the drywall. Wish it weren't so.

 

[jethrodawg]

Termites in New York State ...... who knew ?

Damage like that around here is usually blamed on carpenter ants.

They take home message is if you see carpenter bees (look like bumble bees) or carpenter ants, look very closely for water damaged wood.

They go for the path of least resistance. And since they bore into the wood, not eat it, it makes for easy pickings when wood is softened by moisture.

Usually termites leave the telltale mud tunnels somewhere. Carpenter bees and ants leave a wood pile under the spot where they bore into wood.

 

[Jwestercamp]

How about the rest of he house?

 

[Garage Dog]

Help!

I found that we had termite damage on the sill plate of the exterior wall of the garage and proceeded to pull down all of the (poorly installed) drywall that the former owners had put up. Turns out the damage extends up into a couple of the 2x4s on that exterior wall, but not a big deal. Got a contractor to come in, gave me a fair price and is going to replace the sill, the concrete block under it that was damaged and either sister (where possible) or replace the 2x4s. I'm happy with the price, happy that he's able to start next week.

Ent

So you originally got a quote and thought it was a fair deal... Now you sorta trust the guy and you can just talk about how the project is going to change; little more lumber and a little less rock... Simple right?

Is the quote in writing?

The contractor might be the greatest guy in the world; but make sure you have a contract with the specific scope of work, a fixed price and criteria for all change orders to be in writing.

So many potential problems can be avoided this way...

 

[Zeke]

My reading this, my first thought was; "well if he doesn't understand how big a deal roughing it in is, then he shouldn't be doing it".

But we all started learning somewhere and in the scheme of things (construction wise) replacing the header, really is a straight forward project.

If you have the desire, the time, and some skills; this is doable.

As others point out, we don't know your skill set, we don't know what you have for tools, etc, etc.

Thirty or forty years ago I did things I had no business tackling. But necessity gave me few options, so I learned and you can too...otherwise write the check and be done.

Good Luck!

I like this post. We should have a like button. One thing is that if you are replacing something, you can see what you need to do cut wise. It's easier than building from scratch in many ways.

 

[CCRT]

Nasty.........

Header of garden shed...... 20 years of neglect, found both termites and Carpenter ants

 

[entrtaner]

Garage Dog - Contractor stopped by saturday morning and gave me a quote sunday evening. Kept it a completely separate quote from the original work, I'll find the money to do both without modification. Work is going to start on the whole project Wednesday morning. Wish me luck!

Zeke - I agree about the like button, not just for this thread, I've seen some great ones that I would have liked to "like".

CCRT - wow. just wow. at least it was only on the garden shed

 

[Kevin54]

How about the rest of he house?

That's a good point Jwestercamp brings up. If you have termites up high, you better bet you have termite problems down low. They tunnel to travel. To get at the wood up high, they've came out of the ground and ate their way to the top.

I never knew there was any problem with my parents house until they were getting to lay hardwood flooring in the kitchen. Along one wall where the stove always set was a weak spot in the floor. The flooring guys said they would have to cut it out and patch it. $32,000 later it had a brand new kitchen. Termites had ate out the floor joist that was on a slab, the back rim joist of the house had to be replaced, a new window had to be replaced in a bedroom. Termites had practically at out both corners of the kitchen bump out. I went down into the basement to see if I could see any termite damage on the rim joist, and I saw none at all until I took a crowbar and hit it rather hard and it went through.

 

[entrtaner]

Kevin54 - I've pretty much figured out the series of events that led to the termite damage and I think we're pretty good. It starts with a wisteria vine buckling the driveway near the garage door, causing ponding against the door and frame. Wet wood, in contact with the ground, provided a perfect entry point. They came up the frame, split up, some going along the sill plate and up the corresponding studs from that, the rest going up the frame to the header and then across the header. So you are absolutely correct, the termites came in low, worked their way up high.

 

[Moose97]

Shouldn't be a big deal to get your contractor to add this too the work. Sounds like your inspector is a good guy. Take this as a lesson learned. I think you can wait to fix the asphalt till spring with no worries.

 

[entrtaner]

Moose - Contractor started work this morning, taking care of all termite damage, plus adding some much needed ceiling beams. Think you're right about the asphalt, but I have a non load bearing post that needs to be replaced...the post support is right next to the problem area with the asphalt. So, gotta get the asphalt done sooner rather than later, in order to have the post get replaced. Don't want to replace it, then screw it all up when trying to fix the asphalt later.

 

[tjsully12]

Sorry if this isn't the right way to start a post but I am new to the site and didn't see where I would go to start a new one & I have a similar question, although I think my damage is due more to wood rot. I believe my header is a lam bean and at least 12 inched high. I have a couple if inches of damage from the bottom up. I've done some preliminary patching with plastic wood which didn't go so well, may try bondo. My question is A) do I need to replace it and B) can I just fill the gaps with Bondo and put it all back together?

 

[firebirdparts]

tjsully, you may need to make some number of posts before starting a thread, I'm not sure. You certainly need to start one.

My question is, why the damage? Stop the source of the problem and then let's talk about it. Are you sure that's not a 2 by 4 that is visible? If that's really a huge glue-lam, then you need a more firm idea of just how much it's damaged.

 

[nadogail]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Showkey]

Look at it as an opportunity to install a larger/taller insulate door !

theoldwizard1 - Depends on whether the garage door needs to be removed in order to replace the header. If it does, I'll probably do as you say and install an insulated door. Larger/taller just won't work...garage is only 11ft wide to start with and the 7ft height is just about as much as would probably work.

Not to mention........why would you spend extra for an insulated garage door , when the garage is NOT insulated???????

 

[HotrodHR]

Need some additional pics taken at different angles... this is theheader jamb board. If the header (above the jamb board) is structural sound then replace the jamb board. If the jamb board is not too damaged you can repair patch it and cover with aluminum or vinyl siding material. Make sure it's properly flashed to keep water from returning...

 

[yeldogt]

You need to do a bit more digging -- understand exactly what is in there .. and how much and what is damaged.

There is no point in patching as it's not visible when the trim goes back -- and the patch does nothing for the beam.

Are you sure it's a laminated beam?