There is one factor that is involved in almost all issues involving wood destroying organisms. When we talk about wood destroying organisms we are referencing a fungal issue -- wood decay fungi or rot. And we are also talking about any of the wood destroying insects. In my state, that includes two types of termites, three kinds of ants and a couple types of wood-boring beetles. That is quite a smorgasbord of bugs.
What I refer to as the common denominator, in the vast majority of these infestations, is shown below.
The culprit is moisture. It need not be standing water in the substructure area, as shown here. It could be something as simple as downspouts emptying next to the foundation or a plumbing leak. All of these issues can increase the moisture levels in the crawl space and, around here, once the wood moisture gets to 13% that wood is a prime target for anobiid beetles. Let the wood get up to 20% and it is susceptible to rot. When there are moisture issues, we refer to them as "conducive conditions" because most wood destroying organisms love moisture.
If I can only give one bit of advice to homeowners, who want to avoid destructive problems from wood destroying organisms, it is to keep things dry. By the way, all that water in a crawl space evaporates up into the home so that is conducive to any number of unpleasant and fungal issues above that involve high relative humidity.
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