termites in my lumber

[yukon cornelius]

I saved some of the leftover timbers from my building my grandpas barn in 1950. they are 3x6 oak about 12 feet long. they had been in the loft til last year when the farm sold and I had no place to put them so the went outside on my lumber/log pile. I have been trying to come up with a project for them that would have as much meaning as he deserved. yesterday I was looking at them and found they had slid to the ground and had gotten termites. I was crushed! is there a way to save the wood? they aren't too bad yet but if I don't act quick it will be too late if it isn't already

[WDH]

The wood can be heated in a kiln to kill all the insects of any type.

[yukon cornelius]

I don't have access to a kiln. anything else I can try? any way to make a mini kiln for just those pieces?

[Ianab]

If the termites are the normal ground living ones, they can't survive without access back to the nest in the ground. Not enough moisture in the wood.  The ones venturing up into the wood are just the workers, the breeding queen is still below ground in the nest.

So moving the wood up well away from the nest will cut them off from home, and and termites left in the wood will not be able to reproduce, and will soon die.

There are some termites that can live JUST in the wood, but if yours have come from the ground contact that's most likely what you have.

Ian

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

You could make a small solar kiln. Lots of free plans out there and very simple to do.

After you kill the termites, You can inject epoxy into any exposed holes to fill them in and fill the cavaties they bored to solidify the wood, works good if you dont plan on staining the final project because epoxy does not take stain well. You can however tint it with permanent markers to come close to the surrounding wood color.

[Magicman]

Put it off of the ground and on sawhorses to dry.  When it dries out the termites will die because they can not live without moisture.  It is not necessary but soapy water or most any insecticide will kill them.

[yukon cornelius]

thank you! maybe I can save those pieces. now to decide on a project to honor him. I think a table for our family to eat at might just do the trick. I miss him dearly and like to keep his things close to me.

[SLawyer Dave]

If they are subterranean termites, then you should find some dry "mud" in and around their tubes.  This is actually a combination of their poop and dirt, which they use to seal off their tunnels from the outside air.  As Ianab commented, subterranean termites need lots of moisture to live.  The regular air we breath is too dry for them, so they basically build air and moisture tight passages everywhere they go.  If you find this mud, then you are most definitely dealing with subterranean termites and all you need is to get the wood off the ground.  Any termites still in the wood will die in a matter of days. 

If instead of "mud", you find a rather coarse, dry wood powder/saw dust coming out of the holes where the termites were active, then you are most likely dealing with Dry Wood Termites.  Dry wood termites actually live in the wood and can be very difficult to kill.  Generally the wood either needs to be fumigated, frozen or heated to a point where even at the deepest part of the wood, the termites are killed.  Dry wood termites are also "bad news", because they easily will infest other wood and wooden structures in the vicinity.  So hopefully you have subterranean termites.  If in any doubt, call out a pest control company to have them look at the situation.  Typically the big national companies will come out for free inspections, (with the hope of selling you a contract). 

Good luck to ya.

[Magicman]

I based my answer in Reply #5 indicating that they were subterranean termites since the OP had stated that the lumber had "slid to the ground" and gotten termites.  Letting the lumber completely dry out will take care of any further damage.

As you can see on this 2X4, termites had tunneled over the 4X4 on the ground and and entered where the sticker contacted the 2X4. 


 
This 2X4 had very minimal termite evidence showing.


 
But when I planed it, there was no inside.  There were no termites because I had hauled the lumber to the building site a couple of months ago.  Remove the moisture and ground contact and the termites die.   

[yukon cornelius]

yikes mm! good thing you didn't build a ladder with that thing! darn termites are a nuisance! how high do we have to go to keep them out? I think foundation recommendations are 18 inches. I dont know if that's for termites or not.

[SLawyer Dave]

Back when I did pest control, I saw up to 7' high termite tubes going up the side of a concrete basement to get to the wood mudsill/flooring joists for the main floor.  So I generally recommend the higher off the ground the better.  However, it is really important to do a visual inspection every couple of months to make sure that you don't have the termite tubes being built up on the stone, bricks, or whatever you are using to keep the wood off the ground.  Also remember that if you are using wood piers or other wood to ground contacts, that the termites can eat their way straight up through such to get at the wood on top.  That may leave no visual evidence of an infestation, so always try to avoid any earth to wood contacts.

Also remember that subterranean termites LOVE fresh, "soft" wood.  It was very normal to see some small evidence of termites in an 80 year old house, where they did very little damage.  Only to find that the termites completely destroyed the structural wood members added to a remodel or expansion of that same house within the last 10 years.  So if you are using old, dried out stickers or boards to hold your good freshly milled wood off the ground, don't be surprised to see the termites almost ignoring those stickers to get to that fresh "veal" of wood stacked on top of them.

[yukon cornelius]

that's very interesting dave! thanks for posting!

[Magicman]

A key word for subterranean termites is moisture.

[21incher]

You may also want to checked the area where the wood was stacked for any signs of termites that could easily spread to other lumber and buildings if the nest still remains underground. They are very good at finding damp wood and I have seen them swarm on damp days to reproduce and form new nests.