Killing Termites

[Coyote]

Howdy,

I have some old white oak boards that I found in my family scrap pile. Apparently my dad found them on an oilfield location 10 or 15 years ago years ago. They are 2.5" by 5.5" by 10' long. They have been in the weather  since then but aside from needing a good planing they are in good shape. I did, however, find some minor termite damage and a few termites in one of the boards. Is there an effective way that yall have found to make sure to rid old lumber of termites before it gets recycled into new furniture? I plan to use the lumber to make a workbench.

[Ianab]

My understanding is that termites nest in the ground, and build mud tunnels up to find wood to eat. They don't actually nest and breed in the wood. The queen and eggs stay in the nest

Now powder post beetles, that's different. They actually live in the wood until they hatch out, then re-infest the wood with new eggs.

Ian

[Tree Feller]

Ian is right. If the termites can't get to moisture they will die.

However, just about anything will kill them. Spray them with Raid if you're concerned.

[Coyote]

Cool! This may be easier than I thought.

Thanks Ian and Tree Feller!!


Sparky

[Raider Bill]

Do you have dry wood termites there? They don't have to return to the soil.

[Coyote]

Well I'm not sure if we have dry wood termites here. But I did find mud tubes from the ground up to the boards, so I'm guessing they are subterranean termites in this particular case. (I hope)